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# LIBRARY OF CONliRLlSS. 



'# ■— ' - - 

I UNITE1» STATES OK AMERICA. 



NARRATIVE 

OF 

PRIVATIONS AND SUFFERINGS 

OF 

UNITED STATES OFFICERS & SOLDIERS 

WHILE 

PRISONERS OF WAR 

IN THE HANDS OF 

THE REBEL AUTHORITIES. 



THE REPORT OF A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY, APPOINTED BY THE UNITED STATES 

SANITARY COMMISSION. 



WITH AN APPENDIX, 

COISTT JOINING THE XESTIMQN'Y. 




" For I was an htinfjred, and ye gave Me no meat ; I was thirsty, and, ye gave Me 
no drinli ; I was a stranger, and ye toolt Me not in; nahed, and ye clothed M« not; 
aide, and in prison, and ye visited Me not. 

" Ziord, rvhen saw tve Thee an hnngred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sich, 
or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? 

" Verily I say tinto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did 
it not to Me." 



MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION". 



VALENTINE MOTT, M. D., LL. D., 

Ex-Presidcnt of the Medical Department of the Uni- 
versitv of New York, and Knieritiis Professor of 
Snrt;ery: Fellow of Kin- ami Queen's College of 
Physieians of Ireland; Honorary fellow of the 
Royal Medical and Cliirnraical Society of Lon- 
don, etc., etc. 

Chairman of the CoDimission. 

EDWARD DELAFIELD, M. D., 

President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
of >;ew York, .ind Emeritus Professor of Ohstet- 
rics nnd the Diseases of Women and Children; 
President of the National Ophthalmological So- 
ciety, etc., etc. 



GOUVERNEUR BIORRIS WILKINS, Esq. 

ELLERSLIE WALLACE, M. D., 

Professor of Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women 
and Children, Jcficrson Medical College, Phila- 
delphia, etc. 

HON. J. I. CLARK HARE, 

Judge of the District Court of the City and County 
of Philadelphia. 

REV. TREADWELL WALDEN, 

Rector of St. Clement's Church, Philadelphia. 



PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OF "LITTELL'S LIVING AGE," BOSTON. 

PRICK T'WENTY CEjSTTS. 



EXTEACTS ^,. f < 



FROM THE 



MINUTES OE PEOCEEDINGS OE THE STANDING COMMITTEE OE TIE UNITED 
STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 



823 Broadway, New Yoek, May 19, 1864. 

Resolved, That Dr. Elleeslie Wallace, Hon. J. I. Clark Hare, and the Rev. 
Treadwell Walden, of Philadelphia, and Dr. Vali?ntine Mott, Dr. Edward Dela- 
FiELD, and GouvERNEUR M. WiLKiNS, Esq., of New York, be respectfully requested to act 
as a Commission for ascertaining, by inquiry and investigation, the true physical condition 
of prisoners, recently discharged by exchange, from confinement at Richmond and elsewhere, 
within the rebel lines ; whether they did, in fact, during such confinement, sufier materially for 
want of food, or from its defective quality, or from other privations or sources of disease ; and 
whether their privations and sufferings were designedly inflicted on them by military or other 
authority of the Rebel Government, or were due to causes which such authorities could not con- 
trol. And that the gentlemen above named be requested to visit such camps of paroled or dis- 
charged prisoners as may be accessible to them, and to take, in writing, the depositions of so 
many of such prisoners as may enable them to arrive at accurate results ; and to adopt such 
other means of investigation as they may think proper. 

823 Broadway, New York, May 31, 1864. 

Voted, to request of the Committee of Investigation on the condition of exchanged Union 
prisoners, the examination not only of Union prisoners, but also of some of the Rebel prisoners 
recently c^iptured, with reference to the question whether they have, while in the Confederate 
service, suffered like privations to those experienced by the Federal captives. 

The above is a correct copy from the Minutes. 

J. FOSTER JENKINS, 

General Secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission 



September, 1864. 

The Commissioners appointed in the foregoing resolution, by the Standing Committee of 
the United States Sanitary Commission, respectfully submit the following Narrative and Report 
— drawn from the mass of evidence collected by them, and printed in the Appendix — as the 
result of their inquiry and investigation. 

V. MOTT, 

EDWD. DELAFIELD, 
GOUV. MOR. WILKINS, 
ELLERSLIE WALLACE, 
J. I. CLARK HARE, 
TREADWELL WALDEN. 
2 



COPIES 



PHOTOGRAPHS OF UNION SOLDIERS 



AFTER THEIR RETURN FROM 



IMPHISONMENT AT BELLE ISLE. 



Accurately copied from the Original Photographs taken at United States General 
Hospital, Division No. 1, Annapolis, Maryland, and now in the possession oM,he United 
States Sanitary Commission. 



'\ .^ 




THE 



NARRATIVE AND REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. 



Reports of Cruelties in the Beginning of the War 
— Mutual Recrimination of Nortli and South — La- 
ter and more Authentic Reports — Heart-rending 
Condition of Returned Prisoners — The Congress- 
ional Inquiry — Tlie Sanitary Commission Appoints 
a Commission of Inquiry — Range of the Investi- 
gation — Visit of the Commmissioners to Annapo- 
lis and Baltimore — Appearance of the Returned 
Prisoners — Living SIceletons — Testimony Taken 
— The Claim of the Rebel Government and Peo- 
ple — The Humane Principles of Modern War- 
fare. 

Ever since -the outbreak of the war, the 
country has been full of painful rumors con- 
cerning the treatment of prisoners of war by 
the rebel authorities. Every returned pris- 
oner has brought his tale of suffering, aston- 
ishing his neighborhood with an account of 
cruelty and barbarity on the part of the en- 
emy. Innumerable narratives have also been 
published and widely circulated. 

The public have been made very uneasy 
by these reports. One class have accepted 
them as true ; another have felt them to be 
exaggei'ated ; still another have pronounced 
them wholly false, — fictions purposely made 
and scattered abroad to inflame the people 
against their enemies, and doing great injus- 
tice to the South. 

On the other hand, rumors have crossed 
the border, of an outraged public sentiment 
in the South, precisely on the same account : 
reports abounding tliere of cruelty and bar- 
barity to the rebel soldiers in our hands. It 
has been repeatedly announced that what- 
ever restrictions or privations have been suf- 
fered by Northern men in Southern prisons, 
were in retaliation for these. 

In the beginning of such a prodigious con- 
test, as this has proved to be, breaking out in 
the midst of a people unaccustomed to war, 
and quite removed from extensive military 
traditions and examples, it was natural that 
many irregularities should have occurred, and 
many usages of warfare been disregarded on 
both sides ; and that in the matter of prison- 
ers especially, where either region was sud- 
denly inundated by many thousands, great 
abuses should have taken place, until accom- 
modations could be provided, and arrange- 
ments perfected. 

But these early days of ill-preparation have 



long passed away. The war has lasted more 
than three years. Both sections have become 
accustomed to it, and are familiarized with 
the ideas, habits, and laws of military life. 
The passionate fury of one side and the pcb- 
triotie indignation of the other, have had 
time to settle down, at least so far as to ac- 
cept this condition, and make every civilized 
provision known in modern warfare, for the 
mitigation of its horrors and inhumanity. 

And yet the painful rumors, so rife at the 
outbreak of the war, instead of subsiding with 
its early tumult, have lately increased to an 
extent which has seriously alarmed and 
aroused the public. The tales of cruelty and 
suffering have become even more heart-rend- 
ing. Months ago we heard reports that our 
men were starving and freezing in the South- 
ern prisons. In the late temporary resump- 
tion of the cartel, boat-loads of half naked 
living skeletons, foul with filth, and covered 
with vermin, were said to have been landed 
at Annapolis and Baltimore. Men, diseased 
and dying, or physically ruined lor life, unfit 
for further military service, had been received 
in the stead of soldiers of the enemy returned 
in good condition, and who had been well 
fed, well clothed, and well sheltered by our 
Government during their captivity. 

But many reasons were circulated to ac- 
count for such a difference. It was alleged 
that these emaciated men were the victims of 
camp dysentery, or similar distempers, and 
of food, which, however good in quality, and 
sufHcient in quantity, was averse to the 
Northern constitution. Again it was alleged 
that the rebel army Avas, itself, suffering for 
want of food and clothing, and that the very 
guards to these prisoners had fared no better. 

There were many among us who were 
willing to credit any statement which would 
mitigate or excuse the infamy of permitting 
such a condition of things. For the sake of 
humanity and the American name, they 
hoped that the worst could not be proved. 

But there were others to whom the proof 
was sufficient, and who were convinced that 
the whole was a horrible and pre-determined 
scheme, contrived for the purpose of deplet- 
ing our armies, and discouraging our sol- 
diers. 

3 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



The attention of Congress was roused, and 
a committee was appointed to investigate 
this and other alleged barbarities. Their re- 
port has just been published. 

Before, however, the result of their inqui- 
ries was known, the United States Sanitary 
Commission, as the organ of popular human- 
ity and philanthropy, determined to make 
an independent investigation ; and such a one 
as would, if possible, put the question at rest 
on all points upon which the public mind was 
divided or unsettled ; and furnish information 
so full, and so direct from original sources, 
that every one could arrive at a just conclu- 
sion. 

They accordingly appointed the under- 
signed as a Commission of Inquiry, partly be- 
cause they were known to be removed from 
any political affiliations and prejudices, and 
partly because three of their number were 
supposed to be professionally competent to 
read the unerring testimony of nature in the 
physical condition of the men. 

Two distinct departments of evidence 
were thus opened. 

In entering upon their duties the Commis- 
sioners had no other wish than to ascertain 
the truth, and to report the facts as they 
were. For this they endeavored to collect 
all the evidence within their reach, and to 
hear and record all that could be said on 
every side of the subject. They were ac- 
companied by a United States Commission- 
er, and in every case the testimony was ta- 
ken on oath or affirmation before him, or in 
his absence, before other officers equally em- 
powered. 

The mass of evidence, printed ks an Ap- 
pendix, was collected during a period of sev- 
eral months, and is now arranged and classi- 
fied to facilitate the reader's reference. If it 
had been printed in the order in which it was 
taken, it would have been too irregular and 
apparently heterogeneous to have exhibited 
the total result of the investigation. But, as 
it now stands, it will be found united and 
homogeneous enough in the tragical story 
which it tells, without variation or self-con- 
tradiction, to the country and to the world. 

Much of the evidence, however, is made 
up of bare abstracts of the free and full con- 
versations that were held with persons ex- 
amined, and although all the essential facts 
are preserved, yet many graphic and pathet- 
ic minor details are omitted which escaped, 
or could not enter, the formal record, but 
sometimes were noted down by those who 
were present. Besides this, the Commission- 
ers were witnesses themselves, and saw and 
heard enough to overwhelm them with as- 
tonishment, and remove the last doubt from 
their minds. 

For this reason, and that the reader may 



share with them, so far as car be, the a'.most 
dramatic development of the inquiry, they 
send out these pages, not in the tbrm of a 
brief documentary report, simply referring 
to the testimony, but as a descriptive narra- 
tive, in which all the salient points of the ev- 
idence, and the results of their own observa- 
tion, are incorporated together. Such a nar- 
rative need be only an intelligible groupinc 
of material — its facts will speak best for 
themselves. 

The Commissioners, at the very outset, 
M^^re brought face to face with the returned 
captives. 

They first visited the two extensive hos- 
pitals in Annapolis, occupying the spacious 
buildings and grounds of the Naval Acade- 
my and St. John's College, where over three 
thousand of them had been brought in every 
conceivable form of suffering, direct from 
the Libby Prison, Belle Isle, and two or 
three other Southern military stations.* 

They also visited the West's Buildings 
Hospital and the Jarvis General Hospital in 
Baltimore, where several hundreds had been 
brought, in an equally dreadful condition. 

The photographs of these diseased and 
emaciated men, since so widely circulated, 
painful as they are, do not, in many respects, 
adequately represent the sufferers as they 
then appeared. 

The best picture cannot convey the reali- 
ty, nor create that startling and sickening 
sensation which is felt at the sight of a hu- 
man skeleton, with the skin drawn tightly 
over its skull, and ribs, and limbs, weakly 
turning and moving itself, as if still a living 
man ! 

And this was the reality. 

The same spectacle was often repeated as 
the visitors went from bed to bed, from ward 
to ward, and from tent to tent. The bony 
faces stared out above the counterpanes, 
watching the passer-by dreamily and indif- 
fercntlyr Here and there lay one, half over 
upon his face, with his bed clothing only par- 
tially dragged over him, deep in sleep or stu- 
por. It Vas strange to find a Hercules in 
bones ; to see the immense hands and feet of a 
young giant pendent from limbs tliirKier than 
"a child's, and that could be spanned with the 
thumb and finger! Equally strange and 
horrible was it to come upon a man, in one 
part shrivelled to nothing but skin and bone, 
and in*another swollen and misshapen with 
dropsy or scurvy ; or further on, when the 

* The Commissioners would acknowledge the 
courtesy and hospitality of the accomplished and 
etficienf Surgeon in charge of the Hospital at the 
X;iv;d Academv, Dr. VanderKielt, by whom every 
facility for conducting the inquiry was heartily 
given. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



jiu'geon lifted the covering from a poor half- 
unconscious creature, to see the stomach 
fallen in, deep as a basin, and the bone pro- 

Erotruding through a blood-red hole on the 
ip. 

Of course these were the worst cases 
an^ong those that still survived. Hundreds 
like them, and worse even than they, had 
been already laid in their graves. 

The remainder were in every gradation of 
physical condition. Some were able to sit 
up, and to move feebly around their bed ; 
others were well enough to be out of doors ; 
many were met walking about the beautiful 
grounds of the Naval Academy — by a curi- 
ous and probably accidental compensation, 
on the part of the Government, swung to 
this Paradise on the Severn from the saudy 
little island in James river and its bleak and 
bitter winds. 

But however unlike and various the cases 
were, there was one singular element shared 
by all, and which seemed to refer them to one 
thing as the common cause and origin of 
their suffering. It was the peculiar look in 
every face. The man in Baltimore looked 
like the man just left in Annapolis. Per- 
haps it was partly the shaven head, the sunk- 
en eyes, the drawn month, the pinched and 
pallid features — partly, doubtless, the gray- 
ish, blighted skin, rough to the touch as the 
skin of a shark. But there was something 
else : an expression in the eyes and counte- 
nance of desolateness, a look of settled mel- 
ancholy, as if they had passed through a pe- 
riod of physical and mental agony which had 
driven the smile from their faces forever. 
All had it : the man that was met on the 
grounds, and the man that could not yet 
raise his head from the pillow. 

It was this which arrested the attention of 
some of the party quite as much as the re- 
markable phenomenon of so many emaciated 
and singularly diseased men being gathered 
together, all, with few exceptions, having 
been brought from the same prisons in the 
South. 

Every one who was questioned contribut- 
ed his part to swell the following account of 
privation, exposure and suffering. 

The veil is now to be lifted from two of the 
nearest and most noted Southern stations for 
prisoners. There appear, indeed, occasional 
glimpses of places of captivity in Danville, 
Virginia, and Andersonville, Georgia, but 
the chief interest centres upon Libby Prison 
and Belle Isle, at Richmond. 

Before, however, the narrative proceeds, 
two things must be borne in mind : 

First, that we are now penetrating into the 
arrangements of a people who claim, and 



have so far maintained, their entire indepen- 
dence of the United States Government; 
who have organized a government of their 
own ; who have also organized immense and 
powerful armies ; who had, in the beginning, 
so far prepared themselves, and, during the 
last three year^, have so far completed their 
preparations, as to be able to match, and all 
but overpower one of the strongest military 
establishments ever known. 

Let them, for the moment, be taken for 
what they claim to be : " The Confederate 
States of America, " a mighty government, 
and a " superior race, " first in civilization, 
in culture, and in courage, distinguished for 
all that is magnanimous, chivalric, humane, 
hospitable, and noble, for all the graces and 
refinements, and highest developments of 
individual and social life. 

Furthermore, another thing must be borne 
in mind : that, in these days of civilized war- ■ 
fare, the cowardly and barbarous usage no 
longer prevails of maltreating prisoners of 
war, but the moment a conflict is over, every 
sentiment of Christianity and humanity rises 
to mitigate the bloody horrors of the field.. 
The distinction of friend and enemy is no 
longer known. 

The surgeon, with the high -sense of pro- 
fessional duty in which he has been educat- 
ed, goes equally to all. The prisoners taken 
are not thrown into dungeons, nor shut up in 
jails-, but put into barracks. They are made 
as comfortable as the arrangements necessa- 
ry for their safe keeping will permit. They 
are sheltered, warmed, fed and clothed, in 
all necessary respeicts as well as the soldiers 
that vanquished and captured them. They 
become, lor the time being, part of the mili- 
tary family of their enemy, and are made 
subject to the same sanitary and other regu- 
lations. 

Their barracks are never overcrowded ; suf- 
ficient area is allowed for exercise and fresh 
air ; so much bathing is permitted, and even 
insisted upon, for the sake of cleanliness ; 
their food is in every respect the same as 
that consumed by the army within whose 
lines they are ; their clothing is all that they 
need. Such a thing as robbery of their pri- 
vate property is unknown, or never tolerat- 
ed if known. 

When sickness overtakes the prisoner he 
is removed to the hospital : taken from his 
bunk and placed upon a bed, and then, what- 
ever distinction existed before vanishes en- 
tirely : every kindness and attention, every 
remedy and delicacy that a sufferer needs, is 
freely and generously given. 

Such is the high principle, and noble 
usage, which prevails in modern warfare. 
The perfection of its arrangements is a mat- 
ter of pride and honor among soldiers, and 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



tbe proper boast of every Christian govern- 
ment. 

We now turn to the people and govern- 
ment at present waging war with our Gov- 
erament, and who, through a dead-lock in 
the cartel, hold tens of thousands of United 
States soldiers as prisoners of war. 



n. 

AJm«st invariable Robbery of Prisoners — De- 
scription of Libby Prison — Overcrowded Rooms 
— Barely room to lie down — Ragged and ver- 
minous Blankets — Shooting at prisoners without 
warning — Instances of Shooting in Libby — 
Same in Danville and Atlanta — Insufficient and 
disgusting Rations — Slow Starvation — Withhold- 
iiig and thieving of Boxes sent from the North 
— Sufferings of the Officers — The Cells — Inhu- 
manity to the Dead — The Mining of Libby. 

The first fact developed by the testimony 
of both officers and privates, is that prisoners 
were almost invariably robbed of everything 
raluable in their possession, sometimes on 
the field, at the instant of capture, sometimes 
by the prison authorities in a " quasi official 
way," with. the promise of return when ex- 
changed or paroled : but which promise was 
never t'ulfiUed.* This robbery amounted of- 
t»n to a stripping of the person of even neces- 
sary clothing. Blankets and overcoats were 
almost always taken, and sometimes other 
aj-ticles ; in which case damaged or ragged 
ones were returned in their stead. 

This preliminary over, the captives were 
taken to prison. 

The Libby, which is best known, though 
also used as a place of confinement for pri- 
vate soldiers, is generally understood to be 
the officers' prison. 

It is a row of brick buildings, three stories 
Wgh, situated on the canal, and overlooking 
the James river, and was formerly a tobacco 
warehouse. The partitions between the 
boildings have been pierced with doorways 
<» each story. 

The rooms are one hundred feet long by 
forty feet broad. In six of these rooms, 
twelve hundred United States officers, of all 
grades, from the Brigadier-General to the 
Second-Lieutenant, were confined for many 
Baenths ; and this was all the space that was 
allowed them in which to cook, eat, wash, 
sleep, and take exercise ! It seems incredi- 
bie. Ten feet by two were all that could be 
claimed by each man — hardly enough to 
naeasure his length upon ; and even this was 
fmlher abridged by the room necessarily ta- 
ken for cooking, washing and clothes-drying. 

* No instance of the promise being kept ap- 
pe«Mrs in the evidence, but there have been occa- 
sieos reported, though very rare, where money 
w»s returned, but even then in depreciated Confed- 
erate currency. 



At one time they were not allowed the use 
of benches, chairs or stools, nor even to fold 
their blanket and sit upon them, but those 
who would rest were obliged to huddle on 
their haunches, as one of them expresses it, 
" like so many slaves on the middle passage." 
After awhile this severe restriction was re- 
moved, and they were allowed to make 
chairs and stools for themselves, out of the 
barrels and boxes which they had received 
from the North. 

They were overrun with vermin in spite 
of every precaution and constant ablutions. 
Their blankets, which averaged one to a 
man, and sometimes less, had not been issued 
by the rebels, but had been procured in dif- 
ferent ways; sometimes by purchase, some- 
times through the Sanitary Commission. 
The prisoners had to help themselves from 
the refuse accumulation of these articles, 
which, -having seen similar service before, 
were often ragged and full of vermin. 

In these they wrapped themselves at night, 
and lay down on the hard plank floor in 
close and stifling contact, " wormed and 
dovetailed together," as one of them testifies, 
" like fish in a basket." The floors were 
recklessly washed late in the afternoon, and 
were therefore damp and dangerous to sleep 
upon. Almost every one had a cough in 
consequence. 

There were seventy-five windows in these 
rooms, all more or less broken, and in winter 
the cold was intense. Two stoves in a room, 
with two or three armfuls of wood to each, 
did not prove sufficient, under this exposure, 
to keep them warm. 

The regulations varied at different periods 
in stringency and severity, and it is difficult 
to describe the precise condition of things at 
any one time, but the above comes from two 
officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Farnsworth and 
Captain Calhoun. As it happens, tlrey are 
representatives of the two opposite classes of 
officers confined in the Libby. The former 
coming from Connecticut, and influentially 
connected at the North, was one of a mes» 
to which a great profusion of supplies, and 
even luxuries, were sent. The latter coming 
from Kentucky, and being differently situat- 
ed, was entirely dependent upon the prison 
fare. 

These officers were there during the same 
season, but never became acquainted. The 
accounts of each, which will bo found in the 
evidence side by side, are here combined 
and run together. 

From their statements it appears that the 
hideous discomfort was never lessened by any 
variation in the rules, but off;en increased. 
The prison did not seem to be under any 
general and uniform army regulations, but 
the captives were subject to the caprices of 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



Major Turner, the officer in charge, and 
Richard Turner, inspector of the prison. 

It was among the rules that no one should 
go within three feet of the windows, a rule 
which seems to be general in all Southern 
prisons of tliis character and which their fre- 
quently crowded state rendered peculiarly 
severe and difficult to observe. The manner 
in which the regulation was enforced was 
unjustifiably and wantonly cruel. Often by 
accident, or unconsciously, an officer would 
(TO near a window, and be instantly shot at 
without warning. The reports of the sen- 
try's musket were heard almost every day, 
and frequently a prisoner fell cither killed or 
wounded. 

It was even worse with a large prison near 
by, called the Pemberton Buildings, which 
was crowded with enlisted men. The firing 
into its windows was a still more common 
oc^currence. The officers had heard as many 
as fourteen shots fired on a single day. 
They could see the guards watching for an 
opportunity to fire, and often, after one of 
them had discharged his musket, the ser- 
geant of the guard would appear at the 
door, bringing out a dead or wounded sol- 
dier. 

So careless as this were the authorities as 
to the effect of placing their prisoners in the 
power of the rude and brutal soldiery on 
guard. It became a matter of sport among 
the latter " to shoot a Yankee." They were 
seen in attitudes of expectation, with guns 
cocked, watching the windows for a shot. 
But sometimes they did not even wait for an 
infraction of the rule. Lieutenant Ham- 
mond was shot at while in a small boarded 
enclosure, where there was no window, only 
an aperture between the boards. The guard 
caught sight of his hat through this opening, 
and aiming lower, so as to reach his heart, 
fired. A nail turned the bullet upward, and 
, it passed through his ear and hat-brim. The 
officers reported the outrage to Major Tur- 
ner, who merely replied, " The boys are in 
want of practice." The sentry said, " He 
had made a bet that he would kill a damned 
Yankee betbrc he came off guard." No no- 
ti<'0 was taken of the occurrence by the au- 
' thorities. 

The brutal fellow, encouraged by this im- 
piiaity, tried to murder another officer in the 
same way. Lieutenant Hugglns was stand- 
ing eight feet from the window, in the second 
story." The top of his hat was visible to the 
guard, who left his beat, went out into the 
street, took deliberate aim, and fired. Prov- 
identially he was seen, a warning cry was 
uttered, Hugglns stooped, and the bullet 
buried itself in the lieams above. 

Very much the same thing is mentioned 
as happening in the prison buildings at Dan- 



ville. A man was standing by the window 
conversing with private Wilcox. At his feet 
was the place where he slept at night, close 
under the window, and where his blanket 
lay rolled up. He had his hand on the 
casement. The guard must have seen his 
shadow, for he was invisible from the regular 
beat, and went out twenty feet to get a shot 
at him. Before the poor fellow could be 
warned, the bullet entered his forehead, and 
he fell dead at the feet of his companion. 

Almost every prisoner had such an inci- 
dent to tell. Some had been shot at them- 
selves a number of times, and had seen 
others repeatedly fired upon. One testifie.s 
that he had seen five hundred men shot at. 

' The same brutal style of " sporting " while 
on guard, seems to have prevailed wherever 
thelicense was given by this cruel and un- 
necessary rule. Captain Calhoun, mentions 
that while he and his companions were on 
their way to Richmond from North-eastern 
Georgia, where they were captured, they 
stopped at Atlanta, and just before they start- 
ed, a sick soldier who was near the line, be- 
yond which the prisoners were not allowed 
to go, put his hand over to pluck a bunch of 
leaves that were not a foot from the boundar 
ry. The instant he did so, the guard caught 
sight of him, fired, and killed him. 

Another instance of equal skill in " shoot- 
ing on the wing," will be noticed in the cai>e 
of the soldier who only exposed his arm an 
instant in throwing out some water, and wai 
wounded, fortunately not killed, by the reb- 
el bullet. Something of the same kind 
was related in the course of conversation, 
but is not in the evidence, as happening at 
the Libby, when an officer was shot white 
waving his hand ia farewell to a departing 
comrade. 

But there were cruelties woi-se than these^ 
because less the result of impulse and reck- 
le.t^sness, and because deliberately done. 
There opens now a part of the narrative 
which is as amazing as it is unaccountable. 

The reader will turn to the heart-rending 
scenes of famine which the testimony before 
the Commission has exposed. 

The daily ration in the officers' quarter, 
of Libby prison, was a small loaf of bread 
about the size of a man's fist, made of Indian 
meal. Sometimes it was made from wheat 
flour, but of variable quality. It weighed a 
little over half a pound. With it was given 
a piece of beef weighing two ounces. 

But it is not easy to describe this ration, 
it was so irregular in kind, quality and 
amount. Its general character is vividly in- 
dicated by a remark made in conversation, 
by one of the officers : " 1 would gladly," said 
he, with emphatic sincerity, '' gladly have pre- 
ferred the horse-feed in my father's stable." 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



During the summer and the early part of 
the tall, the ration seems to have been less 
insufficient, and less repulsive than it after- 
wards became. At no period was it enough 
to support life, at least in health, for a length 
of time, but however inadequate, it was not 
6o to such a remarkable degree as to pro- 
duce the evils which afterward ensued. 

It was about the middle of last autumn 
that this process of slow starvation became 
intolerable, injurious, and cruel to the extent 
refeired to. The corn bread began to be of 
the, roughest and coarsest description. Por- 
tions of the cob and husk. were often found 
. ground in with the meal. The crust was so 
thick and hard that the prisoners called it 
iron-clad. To render the bread eatable, 
they grated it, and made mush of it, but the 
crust they could not grate. 

Now and then, after long intervals, often 
of many weeks, a little meat was given 
them, perhaps two or three mouthfuls. At 
a later period, they received a pint of black 
peas, with some vinegar, every week. The 
peas were often full of worms, or maggots in 
a chrysalis state, which, when they made 
8oup, floated on the surface. 

Those who were entirely dependent on 
the prison fare, and who had no friends at 
the North to send them boxes of food, began 
to suffer the horrible agony of craving food, 
and feeling themselves day by day losing 
strength. Dreams and delusions began to 
distract their minds.* 

Although many were relieved through the 

* The very same phenomenon occurred during 
the celebrated Darien Exploring Expedition, 
under Lieutenant Strain, some years ago. The 
whole party suffered starvation; a number of 
them died, and the remainder were rescued wlien 
they had become emaciated and debilitated nearly 
to the point of death- 

" From the time that food became scarce to the 
close, and just in proportion as famine increased, 
they revelled tn gorgeous dinners. Truxton and 
Mauray v/ould pass hours in spreading tables 
loaded with every luxury. Over this imaginary 
feast they would gloat with the pleasure of a 
gourmand." — Darien Explor. Exped., Hai-pers' 
Monthly, vol. x., p. 613. 

The party separated. Strain and Avery being 
the least exhausted and going on before the others 
to obtain succor if possible. 

'♦ At length starvation produced the same sin- 

fular effect on them that it did on Truxton and 
lauray, and they would spend hours in describ- 
ing all the good dinners they had ever eaten. For 
the last two or three days, when most reduced, 
Strain said that he occupied almost the whole 
time in arranging a magnificeut dinner. Every 
luxury or curious dish that he had ever seen or 
heard of composed it, and he wore away the 
hours in going round his imaginary table, arrang- 
ing and changing the several dishes He could 
not force his mind from the contemplation of this, 
80 wholly had one idea — food — taken possession 
«f it." — Darien Explor. Exped., Harp. MonUdy, 
vol. X., p. 750. - 



generosity of their more favored fellow pris- 
oners, yet the supply from this source wae, 
of course, inadequate. Captain Calhoun 
speaks of suffering " a burning sensation 
on the inside, with a general failing in 
strength." " I grew so foolish in my min<l 
that I used to blame myself for not eating 
more when at home." " The subject of food 
engrossed my entire thoughts." " Captain 
Stevens having received a box from home, 
sat down and ate to excess, and died a few 
hours afterwards." " A man had a piece of 
ham which I looked at for hours, and would 
have stolen if I had had a chance." 

One day, by pulling up a plank in the 
floor, they gained access to the cellar, and 
found thei'e an abundance of provisions : 
barrels of the finest wheat flour, potatoes 
and turnips. Of these they ate ravenously 
until the theft was discovered. 

But the most unaccountable and shameful 
act of all was yet to come. Shortly after this 
general diminution of rations, in the month 
of January last, the boxes, which before had 
been regularly delivered, and in good oprJer, 
were withheld. No reason was ^ven. 
Three hundred arrived every week, and 
were received by Colonel Ould, Commis- 
sioner of Exchange, but instead of being dis- 
tributed, were retained, and piled up in 
warehouses near by, and in full sight of tlie 
tantalized and hungiy captives. Three 
thousand were thei-e when Lieutenant-Col- 
onel Farnsworth came away. 

There was some show of delivery, how- 
ever, but in a manner especially heartless. 
Five or six of the boxes were given during 
the week. The eager prisoner, expectant 
perhaps of a wife's or mother's thoughtful 
provision for him, was called to tlie door 
and ordered, to spread his blanket, when the 
open cans, whether containing preserved 
fruits, condensed milk, tobacco, vegetables, 
or meats, were thrown promiscuously to- 
gether, and often ruined by the mingling 

These boxes sometimes contained cloth- 
ing, as well "3 food, and their contents were 
frequently appropriated by the prison offi- 
cials. Lieutenant McGinnis recognized his 
own home-suit of citizen's clothes on one of 
them, pointing out his name on the watch- 
pocket. 

The oflicers were permitted to send out 
and buy articles at extravagant prices, and 
would find the clothes, stationery, hams and 
butter which they had purchased bearing 
the marks of the Sanitary Commission. 

In one instance this constant thievery 
became an unexpected advantage to the 
inmates. After 'the famous "tunnelling 
out," by which so many effected their 
escape, the guards confessed that they had 
seen the fugitives, but supposed that they 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



were their own men stealing the boxes ! The 
tunnel, after running under the street, had its 
outlet near where the boxes were piled up. 

All through the winter and late into the 
spring was this suffering, chiefly from hun- 
ger, prolonged. There is evidence of its 
continuation even so late as the month of 
May last. 

Surgeon Ferguson, who was confined there 
at that time, gives a most painful picture of 
what he saw. 

" No one can appreciate, without experi- 
ence, the condition of the officers in the pris- 
on during the twelve days of my stay ; their 
faces were pinched with hunger. I have 
seen an officer standing by the window, 
gnawing a bone like a dog. I asked him, 
' What do you do it for ? ' His reply was, 
' It will help fill up.' 

" They were constantly complaining of 
hunger ; there was a sad, and insatiable ex- 
pression of face impossible to describe." 

There is no suffering that can be men- 
tioned greater than that of the slow and 
lingering pains of famine, except it be per- 
haps the agonies of absolute death from hun- 
ger — but of this no Libby evidence was 
collected. The description of Libby life 
might therefore end at this point so far as 
having reached the climax of all possible 
misery on the one hand, and of all possible 
barbarity on the other. But the testimony 
develops still other instances of cruelty, 
wliich may as well be introduced here, in 
order to show the animus of the Confederate 
authorities. 

It is stated that for offences, whether triv- 
ial or serious, the prisoners were consigned 
to cells, beneath the prison, the walls of 
which were damp, green, and slimy. These 
apartments were never warmed, and often 
so crowded that some were obliged to stand 
up all night. It was in these dungeons that 
the hostages were placed. 

But the inhumanity was not confined to 
the living. It extended even to the disposal 
of the dead. The bodies were placed in the 
cellar, to which the animals of the street had 
access, and vory often were partly devoured 
by hogs, dogs, and rats. The officers had the 
curiosity to mark the coffins in which they 
were carried off, to find out whether they 
were buried in them. But they proved to 
be only vehicles for bearing them away, 
returning a score of times for others. 

This must have been the case with pri- 
vates only, who occupied part of the prison, 
as it is mentioned that the officers generally 
secured by contributions, made up among 
themselves, metallic coffins and a decent, 
temporary deposit in a vault for those of 
their number who died, until they could be 
removed to the North. 



One other incident may be noticed which 
is quite in keeping with all the rest, but 
without the foregoing catalogue of outrages 
to humanity, would appear too shocking to 
be credible. 

At the time Kilpatrick made his nearly 
successful raid on Richmond, the city was 
thrown into a panic by his approach, and 
the prison officials deliberately prepared — 
so the story runs — a more expeditious way 
of closing the career of their prisoners. It 
w IS somewhat more merciful than starva- 
I tion, because it substituted instantaneous 
death for an endless agony of dying. The 
negroes gave the first intimation to the cap- 
tives of what was goinor on.* Richard Tur- 
ner took care to dash the hopes of his cap- 
tives, as well as add to their anxiety by in- 
forming them that " Should Kilpatrick suc- 
ceed in entering Richmond, it would not 
help them, as the prison authorities would 
blow up the prison, and all its inmates." 
Lieutenant Latouche was overheard observ- 
ing to a rebel officer with whom he had en- 
tered the cellar, where the two hundred 
pounds of powder were said to be placed, 
" There is enough there to send every 
damned Yankee to Hell." Turner himself 
said, in the presence of Colonel Farnsworth, 
in answer to the question " Was the prison 
mined ? " " Yes, and I would have blown 
you all to Hades before I would have suf- 
fered you to be rescued." The remark of 
Bishop Johns is corroborative as well as curi- 
ous, in reply to the question, " Whether it 
was a Christian mode of warfare to blow up 
defenceless prisoners ? " " I suppose the au- 
thoi'ities are satisfied on that point, though I 
do not mean to justify it." 

The idea is so monstrously shocking that 
the mind hesitates to grasp it, or believe it. 
Many will try to see in it only a menace to 
deter any further attempt to take Richmond 
by a raid. And yet the evidence, even if it 
does come by rebel admissions, has an air of 
diabolical sincerity. A remark of Turner's 
justifying the act, which was mentioned to 
one of the commissioners, but accidentally 
omitted in the formal testimony, gives quite 
a decided turn to the very natural probabil- 
ity that the fiendish plan was resolved upon : 
" Suppose Kilpatrick should have got in 
here, what would my life have been worth 
after you all got loose. Yes, I would have 
blown you all to Hades before I would have 
suffered you to be rescued." This was his 
argument and self-justification in brief, 
though somewhat more at length at the 
time. 

The act was altogether consistent with the 
characters of the three men who had author- 



*" Dug big 



hole down dar, massa. Torpedo in 



10 



ity over the prison : — General Winder, the 
Commander of the Department, M;ijor Tur- 
ner, Commander of the Prison, whose bru- 
tality is fully illustrated by his management 
of it, and Richard Turner, Inspector of the 
Prison, by occupation a negro-whipper, (see 
the testimony of Colonel Farnsworlh,) and 
whose savage nature vented itself in fre- 
quent acts of personal insult and physical 
violence toward the prisoners. 

Be the story true or false, it is, at any rate, 
consummately befitting and consistent, inas- 
much as the strongest reasons for its proba- 
bility may be derived from the other facts 
that have now been narrated. If true, it is 
strongly corroborative of the vindictive pur- 
pose %vhich animates the Confederate au- 
thorities. History ma\' yet write It so, and 
therefore the Commissioners do not pass it 
over in silence because of any doubt that 
may cling to it. 

Let the spectacle, that, probably, came so 
near taking place, be, at least, the appropri- 
ate crown and close of this portion of the 
narrative ; the Union raldei-s, bounding over 
the fortifications of Richmond, Intent upon 
rescuing their companions from a captivity 
worse than death, — and the three great 
brick buildings litl:ed bodily into the air, 
and let down In one stupendous crush and 
ruin upon the living forms of twelve hun- 
dred helpless men I 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



III. 

Description of Belle Isle — No shelter provided 
from the heat in Summer, or from the cold in 
Winter — Sufferin<;3 during the late severe win- 
ter — Expedients to avoid Freezing to Death — 
Men Frozen to Death — The loathsome and inad- 
equate Food — Jlen perishing from Hunger — 
Unavoidable Filth of the Camp and of the Men 
oil account of the Rules — Neglect of the Sick — 
Cruelty to the Sick — Incidents of cruelty in 
Hospitals. 

But there is a still lower depth of suffering 
to be exposed. The rank of the officers, 
however disregarded in most respects, induc- 
efJ some consideration, but for the private 
soldiers there seemed to be no regard what- 
ever, and no sentiment Avhicli could restrain. 

It Is to this most melancholy part of their 
task that the Commissioners now proceed. 

Belle Isle is a small Island In the James 
river, opposite the Tredegar Iron-works, and 
sn full sight from the Libby windows. It has 
pretensions enough to beauty at a distant 
view to justify its name, as part of it Is a 
bluff covered with trees. But the portion on 
which the prisoners are confined, is low, 
sandy, and barren, without a tree to cast a 
shadow, and poured upon by the burning 
rays of a Southern sun. 

Here is an enclosure, variously estimated 



to be fiom three to six acres in e.xtc nt, sur- 
rounded by an earthwork about three feet 
high, with a ditch on either side. On tho 
edge of the outer ditch, all round the enclos- 
ure, guards are stationed about forty feet 
apart, and keep watch there day and night. 
The interior has something of the look of an 
encampment, a number of Sibley tents being 
set in rows, with " streets " between. These 
tents, rotten, torn, full of holes, — ])oor shel- 
ter at any rate, — accommodated only a small 
proportion of the number who were confined 
within these low earth walls. 

The number varied at different periods, 
but from ten to twelve thousand men have 
been Imprisoned in this small space at one 
time, turned Into the enclosure like so many 
cattle, to find what resting place they could. 
So crowded were they, that at the least, ac- 
cording to the estimated area given them, 
there could not have been but a space two 
feet by seven, and, at the most, three feet by 
nine, per man— hardly a generous allotment 
even lor a " hospitable grave." 

Some were so fortunate as to find shelter 
In the tents, but even they were ol'tcn wet 
with the rain, and almost frozen when the 
winter set in. Every day some places were 
made vacant by disease or by death, as some 
were taken to the hospital, and some to 
burial. 

But thousands had no tents, and no shelter 
of any kind. Nothing was provided lor their 
accommodation. Lumber was plenty In a 
country of forests, but not a cabin or shed 
was built, although the commonest material 
would have been a grateful boon to the cap- 
tives, and would have been quickly and in- 
geniously employed by them. 

This Is an estabhshcd station for prisoners 
of war, and yet not a movement has been 
made, from its beginning to this moment, to 
erect barracks, or make any suitable and hu- 
mane provisions for the t-omfort of those con- 
fined there. It remains to this day an open 
encampment, close under the walls of Rich- 
mond, and well known to the Confederate 
authorities, with nothing but the heavens for 
its canopy. 

Here then these thousands lay all last sum- 
mer, fall, and winter, with nought but the 
sand for their bed, and the sky for their cov- 
ering. What did they do in the summer and 
early autumn, with the sickening heat of a 
torrid sun ])onring upon their unprotected 
lieads ? What did they do when the rain 
descended and the floods came ? What did 
they suffer when the malarious fog enveloped 
them, or when the sharp winds swept up the 
river, and pierced their almost naked and 
shivering forms. 

Stripped of blankets and overcoats, hat- 
less olten, shoeless often, in ragged coats and 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



11 



rotting sliirts, tbey were obliged to take the 
weather as it came. Here and there a tent 
had a fire, and the inmates gathered round 
it, but the thousands outside shivered as the 
cold cut them to the bone, and huddled 
togi'ther for warmth and sympathy. 

The wint^jr came — and one of the hardest 
winters ever experienced in the South — but 
still no better shelter was provided. The 
mercury was down to zero at Memphis, 
wliich is further south than Kichnioud. The 
snow lay deep on the ground around Rich- 
mond. The ice formed in the James, and 
flowed in masses upon the rapids, on either 
side of the island. Water, left in buckets 
on the island, froze two or three inches deep 
in a single night. 

The men resorted to every expedient to 
keep from perishing. They lay in the ditch, 
as the most protected place, heaped upon one 
another, and lying close together, as one of 
them expressed it, " like hogs in winter," 
taking turns as to who should have the out- 
side of the row. In the morning the row of 
the previous night was marked by the mo- 
tionless forms of those " who were sleeping 
on in their last sleep " — frozen to death ! 

Every day, during the winter season, 
aumbcrs were conveyed away stiflf and stark, 
having fallen asleep in everlasting cold. 
Some of the men dug holes in the sand in 
which to take refuge. All through the night 
;rowds of them were heard running up and 
down to keep themselves from freezing. 
And this fate threatened them, even more 
than it would have threatened most men, 
exposed to an equally severe temperature, 
even with such thin clothing and inadequate 
shelter — -for they were starving ! 

The very sustenance of animal heat was 
withheld, and one of the most urgent occa- 
sions of hunger, a freezing temperature, 
which makes the bodily necessity stronger, 
and the appetite for food greater, was given 
full opportunity to make havoc among them. 
So the last stay and power of resistance was 
taken away — the cold froze them because 
they were hungry, — the hunger consumed 
them because they were cold. These two 
vultures fed upon their vitals, and no one in 
the Southern Confederacy had the mercy or 
the pity to drive them away. Only once 
was there heard a voice of indignant remon- 
strance in the rebel Congress from a noble- 
hearted statesman, but it was heard with 
indifference, and brought about no allevia- 
tion. 

Read the rude words of these suffering 
men. Put together their testimonj^ and 
what a harrowing tale it tells ! 

They were fed as the swine are fed. A 
chunk of corn-bread, twelve or fourteen oun- 
ces in weight, half-baked, full of cracks as if 



baked in the sun, musty in taste, containing 
whole grains of corn, fragments of cob, and 
pieces of husks; meat ofteu tainted, suspi- 
ciously like mule-meat, and a mere mouthful 
at that; two or three spoonfuls of rotten 
beans ; soup thin and briny, often with the 
worms floating on the surface. None of 
these were given together, and the whole ra- 
tion was never one-half the quantity neces- 
sary for the support of a healthy man. 

The reader will not be surprised to hear 
that the men were ravenous when the ra- 
tions were brought in, nor remain unmoved 
by the simple and touching expressions 
which fell from so many of them : — 

" There was no name for our hunger." 

" I was hungry — pretty nearly starved to 
death all the time." 

" I waked up one night, and found myself 
gnawing my coat sleeve." 

" I used to dream of having something 
good to eat." 

'* I walked the streets for many a night — 1 
could not sleep for hunger." 

" I lost flesh and strength, and so did the 
others, for want of food." 

" K I were to sit here a week, I could not 
tell you half our suffering." 

There were other indications of the des- 
perate famine to which they were subjected. 
They gnawed the very bones which had been 
thrown away, sometimes breaking them up 
for soup. They were glad to get the refuse 
bread which was occasionally thrown to them 
by the guards. They even ate the rats 
which burrowed in the encampment. A dog, 
belonging to an officer, straying into the en- 
closure was caught and secreted, and before 
he could reclaim his property, it was torn 
apart by the man who stole it, some of it 
eaten by himself, and the remainder sold to 
his comrades. 

So reduced were they, that they exchanged 
their clothing for food, and left themselves 
exposed the more to the cold. Under the 
temptation to secure double rations, many 
woi'ked at their trades of blacksmithing and 
shoemaking for the rebel army. 

But as the weary months drew on, hunger 
told its inevitable tale on them all. Tfaey 
grew weak and emaciated. Many I'ound 
that they could not walk ; when they at^ 
tempted it a dizziness and blindness came, 
and they fell to the ground. Diarrhoea, scur- 
vy, congestion of the lungs, and low fevers 
set in. 

To add to their suffering there came the 
unavoidable consequences of being herded 
and crowded together, but in this case espec- 
ially aggravated by a most unnecessary re- 
striction. A broad beach surrounded the 
island, and yet only about seventy-five men 
were permitted to bathe per day in the river, 



12 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



in squads of five or six at a time. At this 
rate it was litei'ally and almost accurately 
what so many of the men state : that they 
were allowed to wash themselves only once 
m six months. 

" Lice were in all their quarters." Ver- 
min and dirt encrusted their bodies. They 
were sore with lying in the sand. None, not 
even the sufferers with diarrhoea, were al- 
lowed to visit the sinks during the night, and 
in the morning the gi^ound was covered and 
saturated with filth. The wells were taint- 
ed ; the air Avas filled with disgusting odors.* 

Many were taken sick daily, but were al- 
lowed to suffer for days before they were re- 
moved to the hospitals, and Avhen this was 
done, it Avas often so late that the half of 
them died before reaching it, or died at the 
very moment their names were being re- 
corded. 

There was a hospital tent on the island, 
which was always full of the sick. It had 
no floor, the sick and dying were laid on 
straw, and logs were their only pillows. " If 
you or I saw a horse dying," said one, 
" wouldn't we put some straw under his 
head ? Would we let him beat his head on 
a log in his agony '?" 

When this tent Avas full, the sick were ta- 
ken to a hospital in Richmond. 

The poor creatures Avere often as prema- 
turely returned, as they had been tardily I'C- 
moved thither. Often Avere they seen es- 
corted back, so weak as hardly to be able to 
move, some even craAvHng on their hands and 
knees. Colonel Ely, of the 18th Connecti- 
cut, saAv one of his men, a former schoolmate 
and toAvnsman, (Jeorge Ward, a much re- 
spected citisen of Norwich, Connecticut, 
returning to the island in this condition, Avith 
a squad of others. lie threw him a ham, 
but as the " poor felloAV craAvled to get it," 
says Colonel Farnsworth, who also Avitnessed 
the sad condition of an old acquaintance, 
" the rebel guard charged bayonets upon 
him, called him a damned Yankee, and ap- 
propriated the ham." 

An incident Avhich happened in the very 
hospital from which these men Avere brought 
will give even a better idea of hoAv the sick 
were treated. 

Tavo officers made their escape. Imme- 
diately all the patients Avho Avere able to 
sit up or stand wei-e taken into an empty 
room under the Libby, and kept there 
tAveiity-four hours, Avithout food or blank- 
ets, as a puishment for not having reported 
the contemplated escape. Froai this treat- 
ment Surgeon Pierce died. The officers in 
the room above took up the floor, supplied 

* This taint of the drinking water Avas mentioned 
in conversation, bat was accidentally omitted in 
the evidence. 



the sick with food and drink, and shared 
I their blankets with them. For thii they 
were deprived by Major Turner of rations 
for a whole day. 

A still more vivid picture of a hospital 
interior is given by Surgeon Ferguson. It 
is of the notorious and horrible Hospital 
No. 21, Avhere, so late as in May last. Dr. 
Ferguson says " the Avounded Union prison- 
ers Avere under treatment, * * * I consider," 
he adds, " the nourishment and stimulation 
they received entirely insufficient to give 
them a proper chance for recovery. I am 
surprised that more do not die. There Avere 
many bad cases among them that must in- 
evitably sink under this treatment after a 
fcAv days. The condition of these men was 
such, that any medical observer would im- 
pute it to insufficient stimulation and nutri- 
tion. 

" The bedding where the privates Avere 
confined by wounds Avas very dirty ; tite 
covering Avas entirely old, dirty quilts; the 
beds Avere offensive from the discharges 
from wounds and secretions of the body, 
and were entirely unfit to place a sick or 
Avounded man on. 

" On the faces of the wounded was an 
anxious haggard expression of countenance, 
such as I have never seen before ; I attrib- 
ute it to Avant of care, Avant of nourishment 
and encouragement " 

A Hospital StCAvard, while a prisoner, at- 
tending to some duty in the hospital, found, 
by accident, the Confederate Surgeon-Gen- 
eral's quarterly report, Avhich he bi'ought 
away with him Avhen he was paroled. By 
this, it appears that in the months of Jan- 
uary, February and March last, out of 
nearly tAventy-eight hundred patients, about 
fourteen hundred — or half the number — 
died ! This document Avill be found in the 
appendix.* 

And Avhat was here done in prison and 
hospital, to our private soldiers on Belle 
Isle, and to our officers in the Libby, was 
done nearly all over the South. These 
facts are most conspicuous only because in 
the foreground. But from almost every 
station in the distant South, of Avhi(;h any- 
thing is knoAvn, comes the same story of 
robbery and insult, of starvation on food 
both bad and insufficient, of exposure — in 
the day to heat, and in the night to the frost — 
of shootings Avithout Avarning, of close and 
filthy rooms or unsheltered encamjjinents, 
of disease Avithout care or medical treat- 
ment, and of deaths without number. 

Danville has }'et the Avhole of its dreadful 
tale to tell. Andersonville has yet to ac- 
count for its average of one hundred and 
thirty deaths a day, at Avhich rate the Avholo 

• Page 55. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



of its present number — thirty-five thousand 
— will be dead in a few months.* 

The very railroads can speak of inhuman 
trdnsportations from one point to another of 
the sick, the wounded, and the unwoundod 
together, crowded into cattle and batrgage 
cars, lying and dying in the filth of sickness, 
and the blood of undressed wounds. 



IV. 

The men as they appeared when brought on 
board the flag-of-truce boat, and into the Hos- 
pitals — Distressing spectacle — Hunger, naked- 
ness, filtiiiness — Disease and death from star- 
vation and cold — Cries for food — Imbecility 
and insanity of many — Opinions of the sur- 
geons — The Medical Report of the Commission. 

The Commissioners do not feel at liberty, 
in presenting a narrative like this, every 
fact of which is rooted in the appended 
testimony, to make any inferential state- 
ments, although there are some incidents 
which are as essentially connected with such 
a state of things, as certain known effects 
are with certain established causes. A 
hundred scenes of suffering could be im- 
agined and depicted by one conversant with 
the medical and other phenomena of famine 
and exposure to cold, which would be rec- 
ognized as part of their own history by 
those Avho saw or experienced the wretch- 
ed life led by the prisoners on Belle Isle. 

But, as it has happened, the reader is 
furnished with vivid descriptions, by eye- 
witnesses, of the men as they appeared at 
the time of their transfer into the hands of 
th« United States Government, and they 
kH^=B only to be imagined back on •Belle 
Isle, or wherever else they had been, to get 
all too painful a conception of what was 
daily to be witnessed there. 

" I have been," said Mr. Abbott, who, 
as special agent of the Sanitary Commis- 

* At the very moment this inquiry is con- 
cluded and this report is being prepared, a me- 
morial is brought to the President of tlie United 
States by commissioners appointed by the prison- 
ers still in confinement at Andersonville, repre- 
senting their sufferings and appealing for succor. 
A statement is also published, verified under 
oath by three of these soldiers, who were ex- 
changed August 16th. These documents are so 
remarkably corroborative, in every particular, 
of the results developed by the inquiry, and, in 
some respects, represent a state of tilings so 
much worse than at the date at which the in- 
vestigation closed, that they have been appended 
in a supplement, which will be found, afcer the 
evidence, on page 259. The frequent menacing 
predictions of the rebel press, and the evident 
precipitation of cruel measures upon the prison- 
ers which is exhibited by the testimony taken 
before the Commission, find a fitting confirma- 
tion and counterpart, in this the latest account 
which has come from a Southern prison. 



13 



sion, was among the first to coir.e in contact 
with the returned prisonei's — " I have been 
on the battle-field, and in the hospitals, and 
witnessed much sufiering, but never did I 
experience so sad and deplorable a con- 
dition of human beings as that of the paro- 
led Union prisoners Just from Belle Island, 
and the rebel prison of the South." 

It was his business, for a period, to accom- 
pany the fiag-of-truce boat as it plied be- 
tween City Point, Virginia, and Annapolis, 
Maryland, bringing home thousands of the 
wretLihed men. The greater proportion of 
them were living skeletons, and each suc- 
cessive boat-load was in a worse condition 
than the last. Hundreds, at each trip, were 
stretched on cots, sick with eveiy form of 
disease which could have been induced by 
confinement, exposure, and bad food. A 
number wei-e dying ; several diesl before 
the boat landed. Every one was in a 
frightfully filthy condition. All were de- 
ficient in clothing. Many were almost na- 
ked, and whatever they had on was ragged 
and dirty. Their hair and beards had 
grown long, having been uncut for many 
months. Their bodies were encrusted with 
dirt, and infested with vermin. One man 
had convulsions during a whole trip, caused, 
the surgeon said, by vermin. The vermin 
were very thick upon his body, and he 
threw his attenuated arms about, catching 
as at lice, throwing them off, and slapping 
them with his blanket. 

In this state the prisoners were landed, 
and were received by the surgeons of An- 
napolis and Baltimore. 

Many were so weak that they had to be 
carried ashore on stretchers, and died in 
the brief transit. Others tottered to the 
hospital, with the little strength they had 
remaining, only to die in a few houre. 
Some of them were found covered with 
bad and extensive sores, caused by lying 
on the sand. Many had lost their reason, 
and were in all stages of idiocy and imbecil- 
ity.* One had become incurably insane in 
his joy at being delivered. 

Often they acted like children and had 
to be taught again the decencies of life, so 
long had they been unhabituated to them, 
A number had partially lost their sio;ht, 
hearing, and speech. One man was point- 
ed out to the commissioners who had been 
so covered by vermin, that after having 
been, as was supposed, thoroughly washed^ 
his head even been shaven, was laid upon a 

* "Wilson was exceedingly debilitated, and 
had become perfectly childish, and almost idiotio 
from sufi'ering. and Strain feared that bad effects 
might ensue if he was permitted to eat as mucb 
as 'he wished." Darien Explor. Exp&d. Harpers 
Month, vol. X. p. 752. 



]4 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



clean biid — in ten minutes the sheets and 
his clothing were covered with vermin again. 
And this was not peculiar to him. It was 
only an instance of the unavoidable con- 
dition of" all. In some cases they were so 
eaten by lice as to very nearly resemble a 
case of scabbing from small pox, being cov- 
ered with sores from head to foot. 

Many had been badly frost-bitten, and 
came ashore with feet partially amputated. 
In one case it was mentioned to the visitors 
that a frozen foot fell off as the man was 
being carried ashore I 

Without exception they were ravenous 
for food. Their cries for something to ea,t 
were pitiful to hear. The surgeons had to 
restrain their voracitj', and keep them on 
small quantities of liquid food lest they 
should kill themselves by over-eating or by 
eating solid food. They would often en- 
treat lor the sight of an apple or a piece of 
meat, that they might enjoy at least the 
vision of what they could not have. 

It was their invariable reply in answer 
to the question, " What was the matter?" 
** That they had been starved, exposed, and 
neglected on Belle Isle ? " 

The surgeons, themselves, were unani- 
mous in their opinion as to the cause of 
their condition, not only from the uniform 
story of the men, but from the character- 
istics of the different diseases, the revela- 
tions of the post-mortem examination, and 
especiall}', and most conclusively of all, the 
invariable treatment which proved most ef- 
ficacious ; namely, not medication, but sim- 
ple nutrition and stimulation. 

They all agreed in attributing the con- 
dition of the men to one or more of the 
following causes: Deprivation of clothing; 
insufficient food, in quantity arid quality ; 
want of fresh air on account of over-crowd- 
ing ; consequent and unavoidable unclean- 
liness ; want of adequate shelter during the 
fall and winter ; and mental depression the 
natural result of all. 

The reader will be impressed by the em- 
phatic utterances of the surgeons : 

Surgp:on VanderKieft. — " Their con- 
dition is on account of ill-treatment by star- 
vation and exposure, as I am convinced is 
the case by their actual condition on their 
arrival, and by rations shown to me. That 
the men must have been in good health 
when captured, I do not need such a state- 
ment, as I am well acquainted with the 
regulations which goVern the medical de- 
partment of our army, ' to send to the rear 
every man who is not perfectly able to bear 
arms.' * * * 

" Th? diseases most common among these 
return G I prisoners are scurvy, diarrhoea, and 



congestion of the lungs, which are not ame- 
nable to the ordinary treatment in use in 
civil life, or in hospitals of our own army ; 
they are most successfully mastered by high 
nutrition and stimulation, with cleanliness 
and fresh air — medicinal treatment being 
of small assistance in the recovery of the 
sufferers, and often being entirely dispensed 
with, * * * thus proving by the counteract- 
ing effect of good food, air, cleanliness, and 
stimulants, that these disorders are the re- 
sult of the causes above stated." 

SuRGEOX Ely. — Speaking of the dead 
whom he had found on the boats as they 
landed, " No words can describe their ap- 
pearance. In each case the sunken eye, 
the gaping mouth, the filthy skin, the clothes 
and head alive with vermin, the repelling 
bony contour, all conspired to lead to the 
conclusion that we were looking upon the 
victims of starvation, cruelty, and exposure, 
to a degree unparalleled in the history of 
humanity. Nearly every instance leads us 
irresistibly to the conclusion that death has 
been owing to a long series of exposures 
and hardships, with a deprivation of the 
barest necessities of existence. * * » • 

" In many cases that I have observed, the 
dirt incrustation has been so thick as to re- 
quire months of constant ablutions to recover 
the normal condition and function of the in- 
teguments. Patients have repeatedly sta- 
ted in answer to my interrogatories that they 
had been unable to wash their bodies once 
in six months, that all that time they had 
lain in the dirt. * * * In many instances 
this is the prime, exciting cause of the dis- 
eases of the pulmonary and abdominal or- 
gans which are so constantly found among 
our Richmond patients." * 

Surgeon Parker. — " The majority of 
the diseased cases were diarrhoea, caused by 
bad diet, of insufficient and bad cjuality. 
They have resulted from the want of variety 
of diet. I found nutrition was the most suc- 
cessful treatment. I do not consider the 
(rebel) rations, I have seen, suflicient for 
the support of life for any long time." 

Surgeon Peters. — "The post-mortems 
have made apparent diseases of nearly all 
the viscera to a remarkable extent.f Under 
a spare but concentrated diet many have ral- 
lied. In one instance a boy gained fifty 
pounds in two weeks. I think nine-tenths 
of the men weighed under one hundred 
poimds. They had an uncontrollable ap- 
petite." 

Surgeon Chapel. — "We were obliged 

* See his evidence for a report at length of the 
results of the post-mortem examinations. Ap- 
pendix p. 48. 

t See Dr. Carpenter on Starvation, where fifty- 
two per cent of the starved were thus affected. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR, 



to treat them as children in regulating their 
diet, haviiig to restrain their over-eating, and 
confine them to a concentrated, but nourisli- 
ing and genei-ous diet. Several cases had 
no disease whatever, but suffered from ex- 
treme emaciation and starvation ***** 
All gave evidence of extensive vistieral dis- 
ease, of which starvation, cold and neglect 
were undoubtedly the primary cause. Some 
of the cases sank from extreme debility, with- 
out any evidence of disease as the cause of 
death." 

The professional opinions of these gentle- 
men, and the other incidental medical testi- 
mony scattered through the appendix, will, 
without doubt, be received with greait weight 
by the reader. But, after all, the evidence 
of the men themselves, rudely and abruptly 
worded, and so often unconsciously graphic 
and pathetic, will come more convincingly 
to the popular heart. 

It will be enough for most people that the 
captives were hungrij day and night, and 
suffered the gnawing pains of famine, with 
its dreams and delusions. It will be enough 
that they became weak and emaciated to the 
degree in which they were found when ex- 
changed. It will be enough that they were 
poisoned by foul air and over-crowding ; and 
that they were exposed in the depth of win- 
ter to the cold, without shelter and without 
covering. It will be enough that thousands 
of them became hideously diseased, and 
that most of them miserably perished. 

People do not need any other information 
in the face of such facts as these in order to 
come to a just conclusion, and yet there is a 
certainty and a satisfaction in scientific facts, 
and in the testimony of nature, which ought 
to be recognized in an investigation like this. 

For this reason the commissio<iers made 
the investigation also a scientific one, and 
append a medical statement, prepared at 
their request by one of their number, drawn 
likewise from tlie evidence, the facts and ar- 
guments of which are fully indorsed by the 
medical members of the commission. 



V. 

Reported suffering of the Rebel Army, and Em- 
banissmeiit of the Rebel Government for want 
of Supplies, as an Excuse for Denyuig Food 
and Clo hiug to United States Soldiers — The 
Imposibiliry of there being any such Defici- 
ency — The" Physical Condition of the Rebel 
Army perfects — Facts drawn from Rebel testi- 
mony. 

It has been said, and has been the gener- 
al impression, that the rebel government was , 
itself embarrassed for want of supplies — that j 
its own soldiers were naked and hungry, and | 
that even the prison guards shared the pri- 1 
vations of the prisouei-s. 



15 

It will be noticed that this excuse, urged 
strcnously by their friends, and half accepted 
by every one disposed to be moderate ana 
just, after all, only accounts for a small por- 
tion of the conduct of the rebels to their 
captives. 

. Why were they robbed of their private 
property : the money, and the few trinkets 
a man usually carries with him ? Or, if this 
was the uncontrollable habit of a wild sol- 
diery, why was it the regular proceeding 
of the Libby authorities on the entrance of 
an officer ? Why was it often done with 
brutal violence, when the person undergoing 
the process expostulated ? 

By wdiose connivance were the supplies of 
food and clothing, sent from the North, stolen ? 
By whose neglect, or by whose order, were 
they withheld in immense quantities from 
men palpably starving and freezing ? 

How is it that— after three years of war, 
during which everything military had grown 
colossal and correspondingly complete, with 
them, as with us, — that no extensive bar- 
racks, even of the cheapest and frailest kind, 
offering, at least, space to move in, and shel- 
ter from the weather, were not erected ; but 
that open encampments, or city warehouses 
too small for such occupation, continue in use 
to this day ? 

How is it that, even under such circum- 
stances, supposing them, for some reason, un- 
able to have done better, they made rules 
circumscribing the prisoners still further, ex- 
posing them to the poison of foul air, gener- 
ated by unavoidable personal uncleanliness, 
and by the equally unavoidable accumula- 
tions of filth under certain conditions of dis- 
ease, for which either no provision was made, 
or if made, they were capriciously prevented 
from using ? * 

Why, Avhen over-crowding a building with 
captives, did they make an imaginary bound- 
ary line, two or three feet inside the win- 
dows, to be observed under penalty of in- 
stant death ? How is it that the guards 
were not only permitted, by this regulation, 
to amuse themselves with taking the lives of 
the prisoners, upon certain given opportuni- 
ties, but were negatively encouraged even to 
murder and assassination, by the indifference 
of the prison authorities ? 

* " Sometimes we were allowed to go to the 
privy, and sometimes we were not. We have 
been kept from it so much as three days, until we 
fouled tlie floor." Appendix, page 34. 

" After we tunnelled out, we were only allowed 
to go to the ])rivy six at a time; the floor was io 
one mess — filthy; an ordinary one horse wagon 
load of human excrement on the floor every morn 
ing." Appendix, page 31). 

" The enclosure on IJelle Isle was a mass of filtt 
every morning, from the inability of the men tc 
proceed to the shiks after evening." Appendix 



16 



And is there anything to account for the 
condition of their hospitals for prisoners ? 
Even supposing them to be ill-supplied with 
medicines, there were common remedies, 
easily at hand, which were seldom adminis- 
tered — or supposing them to be ill-furnished 
with hospital comforts, even with sheets and 
bedding, there was no necessity for placing 
the wounded, as well as the sick, on beds too 
foul to approach, and afterward made still 
more offwnslve by the permitted accumula- 
tions of the secretions and putrid discharges 
of the patients. 

Why, also, when their arrangements in- 
duced so much sickness and disease, did they 
leave the men to suffer, often for weeks, be- 
fore th«y removed them (and then like sick 
animals) from the encamjiment or the prison 
to the hospital, often to die on the way, or as 
soon as they were put in the hands of a phy- 
sician ? Why did they discharge them when 
so feeble that they reeled back to the place 
of captivity, and even had to crawl thither 
on their hands and knees ? Or why, as in 
one instance (and one, under such circum- 
stances, may be many), did they subject 
them, even before they were convalescent 
and discharged, to such a punishment as con- 
finement in a cell, exposure to cold, and de- 
privation of food? 

These grave developments of tlie testimony, 
by no means new to many at the North, and 
occasionally the subject of newspaper report 
(though never in such detail as now related), 
have as yet elicited no excuse or explanation ; 
and until an excuse or explanation comes, 
the goverjiment by whom such things are 
authorized, and the people by whose public 
sentiment such things are encouraged, will 
stand arraigned for almost immeasurable in- 
humanity and criminality before the civilized 
world. 

But it is important that this matter of 
famine and freezing, suffered by our men, 
should take more than a negative place 
among the foregoing positive ftxcts, as half 
explained away, if it should appear that 
neither were necessary or unavoidable. 

These are the two worst developments of 
the inquiry — the facts cannot be denied, for 
no evidence was ever more closely knit in 
suppoi't of anything, and the question, there- 
fore, lies open : Were the people who were 
capable of these other unaccountable and in- 
excusable acts, capable, also, of deliberately 
withholding necessary food from their prison- 
ers of war, and furnisliing them with what 
was indigestible and loathsome, when their 
own army was abundantly supplied with good 
and wholesome food V Were they capable, 
also, not only of depiiving their prisoners of 
their own clothing, but also of withholding 
the issue of suflicient to keep them warm, 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



when the soldiers of their own army were 
well-equipped, and well-protected from ex- 
posure to the wet and cold ? 

But the inquiry cannot stop at this point. 
If they were capable of this, then the)' were 
capable of beholding, without compassion, 
their fellow beings subjected to the worst 
and most lingering agonies which humanity 
can endure. Putting together the act, and 
this insensibility to its consequences, what 
other deduction can be drawn, than that all 
was a pre-determined plan, originating some- 
where in the rebel counsels, for destroying 
and disabling the soldiers of their enemy, 
who had honorably surrendered in the field? 

And has it come to this ? Has the ofV 
threatened black flag, the signal of a foe that 
has no mercy and gives no quarter, been 
floating all this time, not courageously on 
the battle field, but over prisons and hospi- 
tals in the South, full of surrendered and 
helpless men ? 

The commissioners, from the outset, con- 
sidered this department of their investigation 
to be fully as important as the other, and 
were at equal pains to leave it no longer a 
matter of doubt whether or not the rebel 
government was unable to provide their pris- 
oners with food and clothing, good and suf- 
ficient. 

One fact was evident on the face of tilings, 
that no army could have endured such forced 
and violent marches, the fatigues and expos- 
ures of such desperate campaigning, and have 
kept up a spirit for such indomitable fighting, 
unless they had been well-e<iui'pped, and their 
physical condition had been maintained by 
every means, medical and commissary, known 
in a well regulated army. 

The rebel authorities could not aflbrd to 
swell their army by conscription on the one 
hand, and to let the material, thus obtained, 
escape its military use, by famine and dis- 
ease on the other. The same arbitrary en- 
ergy which could enforce the one, could 
provide against the other. 

Nor are the quotations of Confederate 
prices any critei-ion by which to judge. 
The country is rich and fertile, if the Con- 
federate currency is inflated and poor. 
Every agricultural resource of a soil and 
climate, unsurpassed by any other in the 
world, has been quickened to meet the emer- 
gency. The necessity has, also, in three 
years, developed other and unknoAvn foun- 
tains of supply — all at the command of a 
strong, desperate, and despotic government, 
which has not hesitated to employ every 
means to keep its armies on the most per- 
fect military footing. 

This reasoning is borne out by the facts 
developed in the inquiry. The testimony 
Avili be found to be quite a revelation of the 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



17 



rebel mode of sustaining an army and a war. 
Their eflk-iency in this respect must be ad- 
mitted — an efiiciency created partly by a 
greater aptitude and inclination for the sin- 
gle art of war, than for the many arts of 
peace ; and partly by the deadly necessity 
tliey are under for the most strenuous pos- 
sible defence of their rebellion, on account 
of the extraordinary power developed by 
the Government of the United States. 

It appears, from the testimony, that the 
guards of the prisoners (of whose privations 
so much has been said) were better supplied 
with food than the prisoners. The question 
was frequently asked, and elicited the invari- 
able reply, that they did not share the same 
ration. Their supply was of a different 
character, and was enough. Sometimes they 
threw fragments of food to the hungry cap- 
tives on Belle Isle. It will be remembered, 
that at the time the Libby prisoners were so 
insufficiently fed, a room in the cellar was 
found stocked with provisions of excellent 
quality. 

But no testimony on this point can be so 
satisfactory as that derivcLl from the rebel 
soldiers themselves. 

Several of the commissioners went directly 
from Annapolis to Washington for the ex- 
press purpose of visiting and examining the 
rebel prisoners. They found a large num- 
ber at the Lincoln Hospital. Although these 
prisoners were suffering from wounds received 
in the late battles of the Wilderness and 
Spottsylvania, they were In a physical con- 
dition which alone was evidence enough of 
the care that had been taken of them by 
their own government. In every case they 
were healthy, hardy, vigorous men. There 
was scarcely a trace even of the terrible fa- 
ti'^ue they had so recently endured. Better 
than all, as an indication of their condition, 
their wounds were healing as only the wounds 
of men In perfect health can heal. 

Nine, out of the whole number, were ex- 
amined under oath. The formal testimony 
stopped at this number, as it was found by 
conversation, that all had the same account 
to give, and It was needless to multiply depo- 
sitions. They came from six of the principal 
States of the Confederacy. Two were from 
Virginia, two from South Carolina, two from 
Georgia, one from Mississippi, one from North 
Carolina, and one from Alabama. 

In order to make the inquiry more com- 
plete and satisfactory, certain members of 
the Commission afterwards visited Fort Dela- 
ware, and the Hospital on David's Island, 
New York, at both which stations rebels 
were confined, and the testimony of eleven 
more was procured. The men were from 
Virginia, Georgia, Noi'th Carolina and Mis- 
sissippi. 

TIIIHD SE1UE3. LIVING AGE. VOL. XXVII. 



The evidence of these three separate sets 
of witnesses, which has been })laced together, 
was given without hesitation, and is uniform 
and reliable. An}' amount of such could 
have been procured, but that which has been 
taken will be found full enough. 

The result of the whole amounts to this : 
In the words of one of them — '• They had 
nothing to complain of in the way of food 
and clothing." They were supplied with 
rations, only a few ounces less than the over- 
generous ration of the United States army. 

The quality of the rebel ration was as 
satisfactory to the rebels as the quantity. 
The corn-bread was excellent, made by 
themselves from fine meal. One of them 
naively observed that he preferred It to 
Northern meal ! They had never had any 
meal furnished them of that quality which 
was ground with the cobs and husks, and in 
which whole grains of corn occasionally ap- 
peared. This inferior kind, they said, was 
" given to stock." 

The only time in which they suffered any 
privation was on a forced march, when they 
were in advance of their supplies — a matter 
liable to occur in any army. 

In winter they lived in cabins or tents, 
well warmed, and well supplied with fuel. 
None ever suffei-ed from the cold. In sum- 
mer they were sheltered by tents, but these 
they left behind when on a campaign. They 
were fully supplied with clothing an4;: v/ith 
blankets or oilcloths. A requisition on the 
quartermaster could always procure any ar- 
ticle that was necessary. When engaged in 
active service, however, they carried as little 
as possible, only the clothes they had on and 
a single blanket, but no man was restricted 
as to the amount he might carry. It may be 
imagined what a condition they were in, un- 
der this system, as respects dirt, vermin, and 
rags, after a long campaign and a pitched 
battle. 

They describe the hospitals, both in the 
city and in the field, as comfortable, and 
with sufficient medical attendance. The 
bedding and sheets In Hospital No. 4, iu 
Richmond, was said by one of them to be 
fully as good as those on David's Island, 
New York. There wei-e also the usual deli- 
cacies for the sick. 

From all this, it appears that the Southern 
army has been, ever since its organization, 
completely equipped in all necessai'y respects, 
and that the men have been supplied with 
everything which would keep them In the 
best condition of mind and body, for the hard 
and desperate service in which they were en- 
gaged. They knew nothing of famine or 
freezing. Their wounded and sick were 
never neglected. 

So do the few details of fact that could be 

1258. 



18 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



extracted, without suspicion of their object, 
from the soldiers of the Southern army, con- 
tirm the reasoning which accounts lor its 
etUciency. 

The conclusion is inevitable. It was in 
their power to feed sufBciently, and to clothe, 
whenever necessary, their prisoners of war. 
They were perfectly able to include them in 
tlieir military establishment ; but they chose 
to exclude them from the position always as- 
signed to such, and in no respect to treat 
them like men taken in honorable warfare. 
Their commonest soldier was never com- 
pelled, by hunger, to eat the disgusting 
rations furnished at the Libby to United 
States officers. Their most exposed en- 
campment, however temporary, never be- 
held the scenes of suffering which occurred 
daily and nightly among United States sol- 
diers in the encampment on Belle Isle. 

The excuse and explanation are swept 
away. There is nothing now between the 
Northern people and the dreadful reality. 



VI. 



The treatment of rebel prisoners at United States 
Stations — The iuimane orders of the Government 
— Scene at Lincoln Hospital — Interior of the Sta- 
tion at Fort Di?la\vare — The Hospital on David's 
Inland — Johnson's Island — Point Lookout — Tender 
care of sick and wounded Rebels at all these Sta- 
tior.s — Kind treatment of the wounded prisoners — 
Alnu^nt slielter, luel, clothing, and food fnr- 
riisiieil them — Facilities for bathinj; and exercise — 
S.niall mortality — No robbing — No shooting — No 
abuse — Cliristian burial of the dead — The con- 
trast of the Union and Rebel prisoners at the 
moment of exchange. 

The moment has now come for the re- 
verse to this melancholy picture, and it will 
be as grateful to the American people at 
large, as it was to the Commissioners. 

Early in the progress of their investiga- 
tion, while in the midst of the sufferers 
taking their testimonj', and occasionally 
hearing floating and irresponsible rumors 
of equal neglect and cruelty on our part 
toward the rebel prisoners in our hands, 
they determined to make a full inquiry in- 
to the conduct and management of United 
States Stations where they were confined. 

A large proportion of the testimony will 
be found devoted to this department. The 
variety and the widely separate sources of 
the evidence, will only make more conspicu- 
ous its absolute unity and truth. It reveals 
an impressive contrast, point lor point, with 
that which has just been narrated, and has 
turni'd out to be entirely confirmatory of 
wl; it Quartermaster-General Meigs declares 
in his letter,* " that such prisoners are 

* See page 55. 



treated with all the consi leration and 
kindness that might be expected of a hu- 
mane and Christian people." 

The design of the Government is fully 
exhibited in the circular orders issued by 
Colonel Hoffman, Commissary-General of 
Prisoners.f 

The ration was to be generous and 
abundant ; its elements of the fullest va- 
riety. The amount issued being greater 
than a man could consume, the excess over 
that which was given, was to go to the 
formation of a Prison fund, which was to 
be applied in various ways, (not expressly 
provided for in the army regulations,) that 
would promote the health and comfort of 
the prisoners. 

Army clothing was to be furnished by 
requisition, whenever needed, the only dif- 
ference being that the buttons and trim- 
mings were to be taken from the coats, and 
the skirts cut so short that the captives 
should not be mistaken for United Statee 
soldiers. 

Careful accounts were to be kept of the 
moncyrmd valuables taken from each pris- 
oner, which accounts were to accompany 
him, if transferred from one post to another ; 
and when paroled, the articles were to be 
returned. They were to be permitted to 
correspond with their friends. All articles 
that were sent to them were to be delivered, 
if not contraband. 

The hospital had its separate provisions. 
The keepers in charge were to be " respon- 
sible to the commanding officer for its good 
order, and the proper treatment of the sick.''' 
A fund for each hospital was to be created, 
as in other United States hospitals, and to 
be expended for the comfort of the sick, and 
" objects indispensably necessary to promote 
the sanitary condition of the hospital." 

The minute directions of the entire order 
look equally to the security of the prisonei's, 
and to all that Is necessary for them In health 
or sickness. 

The commissioners are able to testify that 
the order is fully carried out. They took 
pains not only to procure evidence as to the 
fact, but to see for themselves. 

Two members of the Commission came, 
without previous notice, to the Lincoln hos- 
pital in Washington, where they had heard 
that several hundred of the rebels lay, 
having been wounded in the recent bat- 
tles. The chief object of the visitors at 
the time has been already mentioned. But 
they were able also to observe how well the 
hospital was conducted. 

Although arriving at an unseasonable 



t The whole document will bo found on pa^e 
66.. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



hour, when the surgeons and nursos were 
examining and dressing the wounds, they 
were instantly admitted, with marked and 
cordial courtesy, by Chief Surgeon MoKee, 
upon his learning the mission upon which 
they had {'onic. 

The wards were airy and neat, free from 
oflensive odor, the beds so clean that the 
visitoi's sat upon them while taking testi- 
mony. The men themselves were cheerful 
and good-natured, the more slightly wounded 
crowding up curiously to know what was 
going on, until requested to retire. Some 
were sitting by their beds reading novels or 
odd numbers of periodicals, now and then a 
bible. They were always ready to converse, 
and answered the questions that were put to 
them without hesitation. 

The visitors could see no difference in 
these two wards from the twenty or more 
others in the same hospital that were appro- 
priated to the United States soldiers. The 
patients were mostly in clean, white under- 
clothing, and if it had not been for a figure 
in butternut-colored uniform here and there, 
nothing would have suggested the presence 
of an enemy. 

The wounds were being tenderly unband- 
aged and dressed by the surgeons and their 
assistants. Kindness and attention were 
visible everywhere. Female nui'ses and a 
white-hooded Sister of Charity were con- 
stantly moving from bed to bed. One of 
them was seen carrying a waiter of iced 
porter to the wounded, and holding the glass ^ 
to the lips of the more helpless. | 

The si)ectacle was in remarkable contrast ^ 
with that which had been described by Dr. j 
Ferguson, only the evening before, as wit- | 
nessed by him in Hospital No. 21, Kichmond, 
where our soldiers lay amid the secretions of 
their body, and the purulent discharges of 
their wounds, dying of neglect, and for want 
of the commonest medical attention. 

Some time after this, two members of the 
commission made an especial visit to Fort 
Delaware, for the express purpose of exam- 
ining into the prison and hospital arrange- 
ments there, in order to give, in this narra- 
tive, their own direct testimony and de- 
scription, as well as whatever evidence they 
might bo able to collect. 

They fix.ed upon Fort Delaware because 
it was one of the most extensive of the 
United States stations for prisoners of war, 
and because it had been the object of vari- 
ous rebel reports.* 

* A recent specimen from the Richmond De- 
spatch, July 14tli. Speaking of somo returned 
prisoners, the siccount runs: " They were sub- 
sequently imprisoned at Fort Delaware, where 
those who had money fared pretty well, but 
others, less fortunate, suffered many privations, aud of poor quality." 



19 

The following description is from notes 
taken on the spot by one of the ) arty, 
and written out immediately afterward : 

" The prisoners numbering between eight 
and nine thousand were lodged outside thn 
walls of the fort, (which is situated on an 
island,) in well built and ventilated barracks, 
and have free access at all hours to the ad- 
joining enclosures for air and exercise. Tht-y 
were permitted, and, indeed, urged to bathe 
in squads in the river and to wash in sluices 
to which the tide had access twice in the 
twenty-four hours, and the facilities for 
these purposes were so great that any 
man might, if he chose, wash his whole 
person every day, and swim in the Dela- 
ware twice a week. 

" Every man is furnished with a commo- 
dious bunk, Avith the head raised at a proper 
inclination above the feet, presenting a strik- 
ing contrast to a Confederate prison, where 
prisoners sleep on the floor, or on the earth, 
and have not even a bunch of straw between 
them and the ground. 

" The result of these precautions, and of 
the superior ventilation of the barracks waa 
to render the quarters of tl;e prisoners free 
from the unpleasant odor which generally ex- 
ists where large number of men are brought 
together, and compelled to live in common. 
The same remark applies to the hospitals, 
which are spacious, clean, and in good order. 

" When we went through the barracks, 
shortly before sunset, the men were gener- 
ally out of doors walking about, talking, 
playing cards, washing, or occupying thenv- 
selves in other ways. They appeared in 
general, contented and cheerful. Many of 
them had improvised sutler's shops, and 
were seated on the ground or boxes, sell- 
ing coffee, broiled ham, bread, and other 
articles of food to their comrades, who wero 
gathered around laughing and chatting. 

" The means to prosecute this traffic came, 
we were told, from sympathizing friends in 
different parts of the Union, and from small 
sums of money paid as wages to such of the 
men as were willing to be detailed to per- 
form various duties outside of the barracks 
at different points on the island. We tasted 
the coffee, which was sold for five cents a 
pint, and found it well made and palatable. 

" Much good humor seemed to prevail, and 
there was not a little good-natured laughter 
while we were making the purchase. We 
were struck by the assured yet affable air 
with which General Schopf moved through 

They state, that the condition of the Confederate 
prisoners at that point is deplorable in the ex- 
treme, and strongly urge the adoption of some 
measures for their relief. Sickness is very prev- 
alent among them, while the rations are meagre 



20 

the dense throng that pressed to look at the 
visitors. He was unattended even by an 
on.lerly. His manner indicated a conscious- 
ness that he had nothing to fear from indi- 
vidual resentment. 

" In addition to the water of the river 
which, as already stated, is accessible at 
all times for the purposes of cleanliness, 
thirty thousand gallons of drinking water 
arc brought every day from the Brandy- 
wine, and distributed among the prisoners 
and the soldiers of the garrison, by means 
of large hose and a forcing pump worked by 
a steam engine. Health and comfort are 
therefore studied in this as in other particu- 
ars, but it was at first found difficult to pre- 
vent the prisoners from drinking from shal- 
low wells dug by themselves, the water of 
which is brackish, and has a tendency to 
produce disease. 

" The rations issued to the prisoners were 
the subject of an attentive examination. 
We tasicd the bread, which is made of four 
parts of fluur and one of Indian meal, and 
found it of superior quality, sweet and pala- 
table ; better indeed than is met with at 
hotels or places of resort in the country ; 
quite as good as may be found in any well- 
ordered family. The meat Avas also sweet 
and of good quality. The diet is judiciously 
varied, potatoes and fresh vegetables being 
furnished in large quantities, wherever the 
health of the men appears to require it. 
Tlie rations actually received by the prison- 
ers until the 1st of June. 1864, were nearly 
tln-ee pounds of solid food for each man 
per day, besides coffee, sugar, molasses, etc. 
The quantity was then reduced to about 
thirty-four and a half ounces per diem.* 

" The health of the prisoners is as care- 
fully considered in the matter of clothing, as 
in other respects ; those who require blan- 
kets or additional garments being supplied 
with them on proper application. Large 
iiumbei's of coats, pantaloons, etc., were is- 
sued in this way during the past and pre- 
vious winters. When a prisoner is placed 
on the sick list, and taken to the hospital, 
he is put in a warm bath, supplied with 
clean under-clothing, and then laid on a 
bed with clean sheets, in an airy apart- 
ment, where his condition is, so far as his 
disease will permit, one not only of com- 
parative but absolute comfort. 

" Tbe percentage of deaths at Fort Dela- 
ware was, during some months of last autumn 
and winter, large. This result arose from a 

* " The reduction recently made in the prison- 
er's rations," writes Quartermaster-General Meigs, 
June 6tli, "was for the purpose of bringing it 
nearer to what the rebel authorities profess to 
allow their soldiers, and no complaint has been i 
Jicard of its insutficiency." 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



variety of causes originating before the pris- 
oners were captured and brought to the 
island, and which the officers tlicre could not 
at first remove or control. Among these 
may be enumerated tlie want of vaccination, 
which seems to be as rare among the poorer 
classes of the South as it is general at the 
North ; the attempts made by the prisoners 
to vaccinate each other, which oflen caused 
disease of a dangerous type from the charac- 
ter of the virus employed ; and the bad state 
of the body of many of the men taken at and 
near Vicksburg, who were broken down by 
hardships and fatigues sustained before their 
capture, as well as by the influence of the 
terrible malaria of the South. 

" But while the, ratio of mortality among 
the American soldiers in the hands of the 
rebels has continued to augment with time, 
the health of the Confederate prisoners at 
Fort Delaware has, on the contrary, im- 
proved under the influence of good food or 
kind treatment, until in May, 18G4, but sixty- 
two died out of eight thousand one hundred 
and twenty-six confined at the island. 

" The cruel and unusual rule by which an 
approach to the windows from inadvei-tence, 
or for the most innocent purpose, is made an 
offense punishable with death in the Confed- 
erate prisons, is, it need hardly bo said, un- 
known in Fort Delaware. Few restraints 
are imposed, and those only such as are im- 
peratively necessary for the preservation of 
order and cleanliness among a numerous and 
motley crowd, which necessarily contains 
some men of gross and filthy habits." * 

Shooting was never resorted to unless a 
rule was grossly and persistently violated. 
Even then the direction Avas to order the 
prisoner " three distinct times to halt ; " and 
if he " failed to halt, when so ordered, the 
sentinel must enforce his order by bayonet or 
ball." There were but five instances of 
shooting, under these instructions, and they 
were in every case in obedience to them. 

It is hardly worth while to notice the 
question whether any were shot for looking 
out of the windows. No such order was ever 
given in this, or any other United States 
Station. Here the windows were seen filled 
witli the prisoners. 

Tiie Commissioners are under great obli- 
gations to General Schcipf, Commander of 
the Post, for the courtesy shown them, in 
personally conducting them over the stati.'^n, 
and to the surgeons and officers in attend- 
ance, who readily furnished all the evidence 
that was asked for. It was here that the 
documents, the general circular, the orders, 
and the schedules of rations and clothing 
were obtained. 

» From notes by Judge Hare. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



The testimony is exceedingly full and sat- 
isfactory on all points. It will be noticed 
that a prison fund was formed, in accordance 
with the regulations, from the excess of the 
ration wsueil over the ration given, and that 
the amount was spent for vegetables, and ar- 
ticles of convenience. But even with this 
withholding of part, so great was the abund- 
ance of food, that the prisoners hid loaves of 
bread, crackers and meat under the bunks. 
These were repeatedly found there in large 
quantities during an examination of the bar- 
racks. 

Capt. Clark was able to save sometimes 
between two and three thousand dollars a 
month out of surplus rations, and yet every 
care was taken that too much was not with- 
held. The overseers were frequently asked 
if the prisoners complained of not having 
enough, and were ordered " to give them 
more, and let no man want." A complaint 
was scarcely ever heard. 

It will be noticed what enormous quanti- 
ties of clothing were issued, at this post 
alone, to the prisoners. In eight months 
over thirty-five thousand articles were dis- 
tributed, comprising every species of clothing 
from shoes and stockings, shirts and drawers, 
to woollen blankets and great coats. Most of 
these were given on tlie approach of cold 
weather. 

Every one without a blanket or overcoat 
of his own was provided with one. All had 
at least two blankets, and those who were 
delicate had more. 

The barracks were made comfortable by 
stoves. Fuel was never wanting, and the 
fires wore kept up by attendants. No less 
than thirteen hundred tons of coal were con- 
sumed last winter and spring by the prison- 
ers. 

In hot weather equal provision was made 
for their comfort, especially in the hospitals. 
The visitors noticed in the latter, even green 
shades covering the windows, and a water- 
cooler in every ward, filled with ice, for the. 
free use of the patients. 

Gen. Schopf informed the visitors that in 
every case of death, the body was removed 
to a neat grave yard on the opposite shore, 
and the burial service of the Episcopal 
church was read over the grave. 

It Avas found, by further investigation, that 
the arrangements of every other United 
States Prison Station and Hospital were the 
same as those of Fort Delaware. The same 
regulations were observed in all. The iden- 
tical diet-table, containing the minute direc- 
tions of the Surgeon-General at Washington, 
Avas hung up as conspicuously in the hospital 
for rebels as that for the United States sol- 
dier. 

The De Camp General Hospital, on Da- 



21 

vid's Island, New York, %vas a counterpart of 
that just described. The testimony taken by 
one of the conmiissioners, is almost a repeti- 
tion of that taken at Fort Delaware. The 
only variations wliich occur are additions to 
the facts already recited. 

None of the prisoners were ever deprived of 
money or valuables. Some of them had ar- 
rived in a filtliy, horrible condition, ragged, 
barefooted and bareheaded, covered with 
vermin, (a condition easily accounted for by 
the peculiar and desperate style of Southern 
campaigning, where no tents or baggage 
were allowed to encumber, and the soldier 
had to wear the same unchanged suit through 
many days of forced marching and violent 
fighting.) AVithin a few hours the men, 
having been stripped of all their clothing, 
which was removed and burned, were washed, 
furnished with clean linen, and placed on 
clean, well-aired beds, Full suits of clothing 
were issued to them. When the weather 
became cold they were removed from tents 
to spacious pavilions, furnished with abundant 
fuel. No one was ever frostbitten. None 
were ever shot at. They were given the 
Avhole island inside the line of sentries for 
exercise. Formerly they had been allowed 
to go fishing and clamming, till several es- 
caped, when the line of sentries was placed 
on the beach. 

They had precisely the same rations as the 
Federal sick and Avoundcd. Drinking water, 
cooled with ice, was furnished in profusion. 
Soap, towels, and combs were distributed 
for their private use. There was a nurse to 
every ten of them.* 

It will not surprise the reader to hear of 
the small mortality, although nine-tenths 
were sufi'ering from wounds. 

One most pleasing feature of this hospital 
is developed in the testimony of Rev. Mr. 
Lowry, its chaplain. A library of two thou- 
sand volumes, formerly used by the United 
States soldiers, was even more used by the 
Confederates. They were furnished with 
Bibles, Prayer Books, and other religious 
publications. Religious services were held 
twice on Sunday, and two or three times 
during the week. The chapel, which Would 
accommodate three hundred, was often 
crowded. Whenever a death occurred, the 
funeral Avas conducted according to the form 
of the Episcopal church. 

Johnson's Island, in Ohio, has been an es- 
pecial subject of rebel mis-statements. It is 
a pleasant, healthy spot, three hundred acres 
in extent, in Sandusky Bay, close in the 
neighborhood of Kelley's Island, Avhich is a 

* Each pavilion had from two to four water clos- 
ets. Chairs and bed pans were provided for those 
unable to reach them. Ample structures A»ere 
also erected on the beach. 



22 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



favorite place of summer resort The two 
Islands are much alike. 

The climate is testified to be as favorable 
to liealth as that of Newport or Saratoga in 
summer, or Cincinnati and Dayton in winter. 
Like Fort Delaware it is a military prit^on 
and hospital. The buildings are spacious, 
new, and ia good order. The sanitary and 
other regulations of similar stations are ob- 
served here in all particulars. 

Although in winter the weather was so 
cold that the lake was frozen to the main 
land, three miles distant, and the govern- 
ment teams, conveying supplies, were able to 
cross upon the ice, yet so well warmed were 
the barracks, tliat not a single instance of 
treatment for exposure to cold was known, 
except in the case of some who attempted to 
escape. 

A spacious square, enclosed by the build- 
ings, was given up to the prisoners for exer- 
cise, and they were allowed to be in the 
open air all day. 

The statistics of mortality will be astonish- 
ing to read, after hearing the rebel stories. 
In twenty-one months, out of an aggregate 
ol'six thousand lour hundred and ten prison- 
ers, there were only one hundred and thirty- 
four deaths. The number in prison at one 
time never exceeded two thousand seven 
hundred. In the months of May and June 
last, tliere were about two thousand three 
hundred prisoners. In May five died ; in 
June only one ! 

Point Lookout was still another post which 
had been subjected to the rebel statement 
that the prisoners there sutfered from cruelty 
and neglect. Miss Dix, who visited those 
very prisoners, sufficiently disposes of the 
slander. She says, " They were supplied | 
with vegetables, with the best wheat bread, 
and fresh and salt meat three times daily in 
abundant measure — the full government ra- 
tion. 

" In the camp of about nine thousand 
rebel prisoners, there were but four hundred 
reported to the surgeon. Of these one hun- 
dred were confined to their beds, thirty were 
very sick, and perhaps fifteen or twenty 
would never recover. 

" The hospital food consisted of beef-tea, 
beef-soup, rice, milk-punch, milk, gruel, lem- [ 
onade, stewed fruits, beefsteak, vegetables, | 
and mutton. White sugar was employed in I 
cooking. The supplies were, in fact, more 
ample and abundant than in hospitals where 
our own men were under treatment." 

The surgeons of the various hospitals, in 
several instances, allude to the excellent 
condition of the prisoners when discharged 
and exchanged, and in the statement of Miss 
D\k will be Ibund a l)rierdescription of their 
appearance when leaving the flag-of-truce 



boat for their own lines : " All were in vig- 
orous health, equipped in clothes furnishi'd 
by the United States Government, many of 
them with blankets and haversacks." 

And here terminates the contrast, whic-h 
the reader has probably been drawing 
throughout, between the military stations for 
prisoners, North and South, Union and 
Rebel. 

But the contrast must have been over- 
whelming at the point to which tliis narra- 
tive has now come. When the flag-of-truee 
boat landed within the rebel lines, the two 
systems confronted each other. On one 
side, hundreds of feeble, emaciated men, 
ragged, filthy, hungry, diseased, and dying ; 
on the other an equal number of strong and 
hearty men, clad in the army clothing of the 
Government against which they had ijjught, 
having been humanely sheltered, fed, cTeansed 
of dirt, cured of wounds and disease, and now 
honorably returned to fight that Government 
again. 

The public sentiment of the North, out- 
raged as it may have been, would never 
have permitted any other than this Christian 
and magnanimous course. 



VII. 

The three points now invcstigiited — The concluRlon 
of tlie Commissioners — 'J'hcse privations and suf- 
ferings were designedly inflicted — The late iipptal 
to Divine and human judgment upon Ihoir ciuse 
by the rebel government — The spirit of that c;»use 
identical with the spirit which oriyiuatcd and <ie- 
fends it. 

Such are the facts which have been 
brought to light by the inquiry of the Com- 
missioners. 

There were three points before them to 
be investigated. They were re(]uested to 
ascertain " the true physical condition of the 
prisoners recently discharged by exchange 
i'rom confinement at Iliclunond and else- 
where." They were also recjuested to as- 
certain whether these prisoners " did in fact, 
during such confinement, suffer materially 
for want of food, or from its defective quality, 
or from other privations and sources of dis- 
ease." 

This duty has been performed, and the 
result is now before the public. 

There was one other point which the Com- 
missioners were requested to make clear : 
" Whether the privations and sufferings of 
tlie prisoners wei'e dcsirpicdii/ inflicted on 
them by military or other authority of the 
rebel government, or were due to causes 
which such authorities could not control." 

This question has already been alluded 
to digressively, but its full answer properly 
belongs to this stage of the narrative, when 
the whole field of the investigation is before 
the reader. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



The feeling lingered in the minds of the 
Commissioners as the investigation went on, 
that this dreadful condition of things might 
be attributable to even other causes than 
the possible destitution of the rebel govern- 
ment. This latter consideration, it will be 
remembered, was, at an early moment, en- 
tirely disposed of. Any unconscious or un- 
intentional form of crime is less reprehensi- 
ble than that which is knowingly or deliber- 
ately committed. The question therefore 
suggested itself whether all this might not 
have been owing to the negligence and in- 
competence incident to an immature social 
system, or to the thoughtlessness of a reckless 
people, or to the mismanagement of an im- 
provident government. This was the only 
alternative, and was sufficiently discredita- 
ble. But it was altogether more probable 
that a whole people and government could 
unite in being thoughtlessly and inconsider- 
ately cruel, than consciously and purposely 
so. The latter was something too revolting 
to be entertained or believed. The whole 
current of public feeling and public princi- 
ple generated by the spread of Christianity, 
and the progress of civilization, is so averse 
to anything of the kind that the majority of 
people are made almost incapable of com- 
prehending, or even imagining such a state 
of mind in any community. 

And yet it is to this very conclusion that 
every one must come who carefully weighs 
the testimony. Every doubt and misgiving 
successively disappears. No other theory 
will cover the immensity and variety of that 
system of abuse to which our soldiers are 
subjected. That abuse is, in all its forms, too 
general, too uniform, and too simultaneous 
to be otherwise than the result of a great 
arrangement. One prison-station is like an- 
other — one hospital resembles another hos- 
pital. This has been made especially ap- 
parent by intelligence that has reached the 
public just as this investigation is closing, 
and this report is being written. The re- 
mote prison at Tyler, in Texas, sends out a 
tale of suffering identical with that described 
in these pages. It was only a few weeks 
ago, that the streets of New Orleans beheld 
' a regiment of half-starved and half-naked 
men, who had just been released from that 
station. Still more heart-rending is the later 
account, given in a memorial to the Presi- 
dent, from Andersonville, Georgia, and in 
the full description, verified on oath, of what 
is now being suffered there by the im- 
prisoned soldiers of our army. It would 
appear to be Belle-Isle five times enlarged, 
and ten-fold intensified. An enormous mul- 
titude of thirty-five thousand men are crowd- 
ed together in a square enclosure or stockade 
of about twenty-five aci'es, with a noxious | 



23 



swamp at the centre, occupying one-fourth 
of the whole space. Here the prisoners suf- 
fer not only the privations already men 
tioned, but others peculiar to circumstances 
of a worse description.* In this pestilential 
prison they are dying at the rate of one hun- 
dred and thirty a day, on an average ! The 
Commissioners allude to this station not as 
part of the evidence taken by themselves, 
but as an interesting, authentic, and cor- 
roborative illustration of the point now un- 
der consideration. 

It is the same story everywhere ; — pris- 
oners of war treated worse than convicts, shut 
up either in suffocating buildings, or in out- 
door enclosures, without even the shelter that 
is provided for the beasts of the field ; unsup- 
plied with sufficient food ; supplied with food 
and water injurious and even poisonous; 
compelled to live in such personal uncleanli- 
ness as to generate vermin ; compelled to 
sleep on floors often covered with human 
filth, or on ground saturated with it; com- 
pelled to breathe an air oppressed with an 
intolerable stench ; hemmed in by a fatal 
dead-line, and in hourly danger of being 
shot by unrestrained and brutal guards ; de- 
spondent even to madness, idiocy and sui- 
cide ; sick of diseases (so congruous in 
character as to appear and spread like the 
plague) caused by the torrid sun, by decay- 
ing food, by filth, by vermin, by malaria, and 
by cold ; removed at the last moment, and 
by hundreds at a time, to hospitals corrupt 
as a sepulchre, there, with few remedies, little 
care and no sympathy, to die in wretched- 
ness and despair, not only among strangers, 
but among enemies too reeeutfui eitiicr to 
have pity or to bIiow mercy. 

These are positive facts. Tens of thou- 
sands of helpless men have been and are 
now being disabled and destroyed by a pix>- 
cess as certain as poison, and as cruel as 
the torture or burning at the stake, because 
nearly as agonizing and more prolonged. 
This spectacle is daily beheld and allowed 
by the rebel government. 

No supposition of negligence, or thought- 
lessness, or indifference, or accident, or in- 
efficiency, or destitution, or necessity, can 
account for all this. So many and such posi- 
tive forms of abuse and wrong cannot come 
from negative causes. 

The conclusion is unavoidable, therefore, 
that " these privations and sufferings " have 
been " designedly inflicted by the military 
and other authority of the rebel govern- 
ment," and cannot have been " due to causes 
which such authorities could not control." 

Further than this, the Commlssionei-s are 
not required to express an opinion. Whether 

* For the full account see Supplement, page 74. 



24 

or not they are the result of an infuriated 
and vindictive animosity against the Federal 
government and people, or the result of a 
pre-determined policy, deliberately formed, 
to discourage and affright our soldiers, to de- 
stroy them, or to disable them for further 
military service, or to compel our Govern- 
ment to an exchange on other than the terms 
to which it is in honor and by necessity com- 
mitted, the public are in a position to decide. 

The Commissioners have now performed 
their painful task. It has not been a grate- 
ful duty to narrate facts so unworthy of any 
people, especially of one heretofore so highly 
respected, so much admired, and in so many 
respects a credit to the American name. 
That name is shamed and dishonored by 
their exposure. 

But there is one source of pride and con- 
gratulation ; that, whatever abuses may have 
been developed on the Northern side of this 
war, none of them were originated or sanc- 
tioned by the government. In every case 
they have been the impulsive acts of sub- 
ordinates here and there ; and such are in- 
cident to any conflict. The noble and mag- 
nanimous manner in which the government 
treats the enemies to its peace and pros- 
perity, when they have become helpless pris- 
oners in its hands, is. alone, a sufficient mani- 
festation of the spirit which animates it in 
waging this war. No sentiment of anger or 
resentment has actuated it from the begin- 
ning. The condition of its prison stations and 
hospitals is the best and proudest exponent of 
the cause of humanity which it seeks to 
maintain. This praise will be awarded it 
by the historian and by posterity, when the 
story of this stupendous struggle shall be 
written. 

Can as much be said of the cause which 
stands in opposition to it ? The facts of this 
narrative, and of others that will be yet more 
complete, will also enter into the future his- 
tory of this conflict, but will form its most 
tragical chapter. It will in that day be 
known whether the spirit which animates 
the South is not also the spirit which has 
generated the cause of the South. The spirit 
■which animates a cause gives the character fco 
that cause. A people like an individual is 
estimated by its actions and by its motives. 

Perhaps the world will yet discover a 
strange and reciprocal working of influences 
in the production of that which now opposes 
the republican progress of this government. 

Perhaps the social theory, already so 
widely accepted, may yet be fully established,- 
which attributes the alienation of the South- 
ern people to a simple diflcrence of feeling 
on a question of humanity. A too positive 
denial of humanity to another race, and a 
too positive contempt for a poorer class of 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



their own race, have fostered those per- 
I verted principles, which Avould undermine 
j a government filled^with a more generous 
j idea, and excite a hatred toward the people 
! who would uphold it. As an exponent of 
the inhumanity of the Southern cause, it is 
not unjust, tlierefore, to point to its prisons 
a!id hospitals, where disregard of the sacred- 
ness of human life, and the cry of human suf- 
fering, has such an extraordinary manifesta- 
tion. 

And in the face of all this, the confederate 
congress, with the approval of tlie confeder- 
ate president, issued, on the l4th of June 
last, a manifesto, of Avhich the following is 
the concluding declaration : 

" TFi? commit our cause to the enlightened 
judgment of the rcorld, to the sober reflections 
of our adversaries themseh-es, and to the sol- 
emn and righteous arbitrament of Heaven." 

Can this appeal, to both Divine and hu- 
man judgment, be really sincere, or is it 
only a rounded and rhetorical termination of 
a state paper? Is the rebel government re- 
ally so unconscious of this barbarous warfare, 
that it confidently expects the respect and 
sympathy of the civilized world ? Is it re- 
ally so unconscious of vindictive cruelty, 
that it confidently expects a revulsion in its 
favor from a community whose fathers and 
brothers and sons lie piled by thousands in 
pits and trenches, not on the battle-field but 
in the neighborhood of prisons and hos- 
pitals ? Is it really so unconscious of crime 
that it claims even the favorable judgment 
of Him, unto whom all hearts are open, from 
whom no secrets are hid, and who reijuires 
of man to deal justly and to love mei-cy ? Is it 
really anxious to stand before that bar whose 
final discrimination between good and evil 
it has been revealed, shall i-e?t upon the sin- 
gle fact of humanity or inhumanity, whether 
the passions of anger and hate have been con- 
trolled, whether enemies have been forgiven, 
whether privation and suffering have been 
relieved ? Tn view of the powerless captive, 
hungry, naked, sick and wounded, does it re- 
ally await " the solemn and righteous arbitra- 
ment " of Ilim, to-day, who will hereafter say 
to the cruel and the unmerciful : 

" I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no 
meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no 
drink : I was a stranger, and ye took Me not 
in : naked and ye clothed Me not : sick and 
in prison, and ye visited Me not " ? 

Let the Southern conscience listen ! Let it 
remember that the judgment of Heaven is on 
the side of humanity, and against cruelty and 
oppression ; that a wrong done to a man is a 
wrong done to Gnd, who will make the cause 
of the sufleriiig His own, and will avenge 
Himself on His enemies : 

" Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



25 



did it not to one of the least of these, ye did 
it not to Me ! " 

And here the Commissioners leave the snb- 

{'e:'t. Their inquiry was orisjinated, and has 
>een pursued, in the hope that it might, by 
awakening further attention, be one of the 
means which would bring about an abandon- 
ment b}' the rebel goverimient of its prison 
and hospital system. The many and simulta- 
neous exposures which have been made, may 
possibly induce, at least, a prudence which 
may work the same result as a better motive. 
Already there are symptoms of some such 
movement, and of an admission, even at this 
late moment, of the misery that has been 
produced, a movement and admission wheth- 
er made from necessity or self-interest does 
not yet appear.* 

* It has not been thought necessary to allude to the 
subject of the suspension of the cartel of exchange, 
as it had but little bearing on the points to be inves- 
ti;^ated. But the lately published letter from Major 
General Butler, Commissioner of K.xchange, to the 
Confederate Commissioner, Ould, is of interest and 
importance at the present juncture. It will be found 
printed entire in the supplement. 

The following- extract from General Butler's letter 



But whatever the event may be, this in- 
(juiry will have worked its be/t purpose, if 
its facts should ever reach that nobler portion 
of the Southern people, who are really chiv- 
alrous and really religious, who have not 
been comiaitted to these abuses, who have 
been kept in ignorance of them, and lead to 
a protest and revulsion that will compel their 
government to a repudiation of the iniquity, 
and to a course more worthy of a civilized 
and christian people. 

has a connection with the above remark in the re- 
port : 

" I unite with you cordially, Sir, in desiring a 
speedy settlement of all these questions, in view of 
the great suflering endured by our prisoners in the 
hands of your authorities, of which you so feelingly 
speak. Let me ask, in vieiu of that suffering, luhii you 
have delayed eight months to amzoer a proposition, 
which, by now accepting, you admit to be right, just, 
and humane, allowing that suffeiingto continue so 
long ? One cannot help thinking, even at the risk of 
being deemed uncharitable, that the benevolent sym- 
pathies of the Confederate authorities have been 
lately stirred by the depleted condition of their ar- 
mies, and a desire to get into the tield, to efl'ect the 
present campaign, the hale, heartv, and well-fed 
prisoners held by the United Statcs,'in exchange for 
the half-starved, sick, emaciated, and unserviceable 
soldiers of the United States now languishing lu 
your prisons." 



The following paper having been read before the Commission, by Dr. Wallace, it 
was, on motion of Dr. Delafield, adopted by the Commission, and ordered to be ap- 
pended to their Report. ' 



MEDICAL REPORT. 



Food — Quantity of Food for a Man— Character of Food — Kelation of Food to Temperature — Ration 
of the Soldiers — Treatment of Rebel Prisoners at U. S. Stations — Rations — Clothing, Shelter and 
Fuel — Condition of Rebel Prisoners — Treatment of Union Prisoners in Rebel Hands — Rations of 
Union Prisoners— Quantity of Ration — Character and Quality of tlie Ration — III Efl'ects of the 
Kations — No Variety in rations of Union Prisoners — Comparison of rations of Union and of Rebel 
Prisoners — Consequence of Deficient Food — Diseases Produced by Insufficient Food— Insufficient 
nutriment is Starvation — Privations other than of Food — Crowd Poisoning — Uncleanliness Com- 
pelled— Condition of Union Prisoners — Clothing and Warmth vs. Starvation — The Sick and Feeble 
liable to Freeze — Men Frozen — Numbers diseased as above — Management of the Sick — Star- 
vation in Flanders — Cause of condition and Mortality of returned Union Prisoners — Treatment of 
Sick Union Prisoners — Mortality in Rebel Hospitals for Union Prisoners — Mortality in U. S. A. 
Hospital— Mortality at Belle Isle — Mortality at Andersonvllle — Mortality at Fort Delaware- 
Mortality at Johnson's Island — Additional Mortality — Kindness of Rebel Surgeons. 

To Dr. Valentine Mott, Chairman, etc. 
Mr. Chairman : — 

According to the direction of the Com- 
mission, I lay before you certain considera- 
tions relating to the treatment adopted by 
the authorities of the States in rebellion to- 
wards United States soldiers held .by them as 
prisoners of war, with the view of determin- 
ing the influence of this treatment upon the 
hygiene and mortality of its subjects. I shall 
ground my remarks upon the evidence ap- 



pended — upon the opinions of reliable scien- 
tific authorities — and to some, though slight 
degree, upon our own personal observation. 

Food. 
In investigating the subject before us, the 
question otfood takes rank as of first im- 
portance ; and, in considering this point, there 
are certain well established facts relating to 
the subject of alimentation, to which we must 
refer. 



26 

Quantity of Food for a man. 
In deciding upon the quantity of food re- 
quisite for the due support of a man, Profes- 
sor Dalton* says that " any estimate of the 
total quantity should state also the kind of 
food used," as the total quantity will necessa- 
rily vary with the quality, since some articles 
contain much more alimentary material than 
others." And Surgeon-General Ilammoudf 

Character of Food. 
says, " it is necessary that the food of man 
should consist of a variety of substances, in 
order that the several functions of the or- 
ganism may be properly carried on ; no fact 
in dietetics is better established than this." 
And Professor DunglisonJ speaks to the same 
end thus : " man is so organized as to be 
adapted for living on both animal and vege- 
table substances, and if we lay aside our 
mixed nutriment, and restrict ourselves wliol- 
ly to the products of the one or the other , 
kingdom, scurvy supervenes.§ ' 

Dalton states that the amount of solid food 
required during twenty-four hours by a man 
in full health and taking free exercise in the 
open air, is, of bread, nineteen ounces ; meat, 
sixteen ounces ; and butter, three and a half 
ounces ; in all, thirty-eight and a half ounces." 
Hammond places the amount of solid food 
" required to maintain the organism of a 
healthy adult American, up to the full meas- 
ure of physical and mental capability, at 
about forty ounces, of Avhich two-thirds should 
be vegetable, and one-third animal." 

Moreover, due variety in the food is but 
second in importance to sufficient quantity. 
(See Pereira on food and diet.) In fact, t\i^ 
last named physiologist declares that " no 
matter how nutritious food may be, it is far 
better to exchange it for that even less nu- 
tritious, than to continue an unvarying same- 
ness." 

Relation of food to temperature. 

And as to the relation of food to tempera- 
ture : " In temperate climates, the seasons 
exercise an influence, not only over tlte qual- 
ity, but the quantity of food taken into the sys- 
tem. Most persons eat more in winter than 
in summei'. The cause is doubtless to be 
found in the fact, that, in cold weather a 
greater quantity of respiratory food is required 
in order to keep up the animal heat, than in 
hot weather, when the external temperature 
more nearly approaches the tempei'ature of 
the body. || " He who is well fed," observes 

* Human Physiolopy. 

t Treatise on Hygiene. 

i Human Health. 

§ Professor Wood, in his Treatise on Practice of 
Medicine, defines Scurvy to be a disease in wiiicli 
" tlie blood is depraved, and the system debilitated, 
witti a tendency to hemorrhage and to local conges- 
tions." 

11 Hammond's Hygiene. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



Sir John Ross, " resists cold better than the 
man who is stinted, while the starvation from 
cold follows but too soon a starvation in food.' 
And Sir John Franklin, in his narrative of a 
journey to the Polar sea, writes, "«o quanti- 
ty of clothing could keep us warm whiU- we 
fasted." " In tropical climates and in hot 
seasons, the system requires a smaller (juati- 
tity of food than in colder countries and in 
cold seasons." * Individuals whose business 
requires much bodily exertion, or that they 
should spend much of their time in the open 
air, eat more than those of sedentary habits. 
And we have, from the authority of Carpen- 
ter, in his work on Human Physiology, that 
" a considerable reduction in the amount of 
food suflaclent for men in regular active ex- 
ercise, is, of course, admissible where little 
bodily exertion is required, and where there 
is less exposure to low temperatures." 

Ration of the soldier. 
The ration of the British Soldier is, at 
home stations, sixteen ounces of bread and 
twelve ounces of uncooked meat ; at foreign 
stations, four ounces more of meat are al- 
lowed. Any extras are bought by the sol- 
dier out of his own funds. The French sol- 
dier in the Crimea had forty-two and five- 
eighths ounces of solid food, about ten and a 
half ounces of which were animal, the rest 
vegetable. In time of peace his ration is 
less. " The American soldier is better fed 
than any other in the world. This is proved 
by the healthy condition of the troops. Scur- 
vy, 0716 of the first diseases to make its ap- 
pearance ivhen the food is of inferior quality, 
has prevailed to so slight an extent, &c."f 
His ration of solid food J is about fifty-two and 
a half ounces, with a fair range for variety ; 
and extra issues of pickles, fruits, and special 
vegetables, are made, when the medical offi- 
cers deem them necessary. This ration is 
more than the man is generally able to con- 
sume, and the surplus is resold to the govern- 
ment for his benefit. 

Treatment of Rebel Prisoners at U. S. Stations. — 
Rations. 

The rations issued for the rebel soldiers 
held by our government as prisoners of war, 
were the same as for the United States gar- 
rison troops and soldiers on active service, 
except the bread ration, which was four 
ounces less ; and the amount given, was, of 
solid food, forty-three ounces, besides extra 
vegetables, etc., sometimes, which were (see 
Captain Clark's evidence) procured by sale 
of the surplus, as above noted in the case of 
the Federal troops. No material change was 
made until the first of June, 1864, since 
which date the amount given was reduced to 

* Pereira, Food and Diet. 

! Hammond's Hygiene. 
Aj98uming soft bread sad &csh beef as the basis. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



27 



thirty-four and a half ounces, while the range 
for variety of articles remained unchanged, 
and from the exflpBe of the rations issued, the 
surplus fund for the use of the prisoners was 
larger than before. That this amount will 
be sufficient for comfort and health in the 
warm weather, and under the inactive life (jf 
tlie prisoner, we must infer from the state- 
ments of Pereira, Hammond, and Carpenter 
(above), and may likewise consider proven 
by the foct, that at Fort Delaware, even in 
the cold weather of the pas-t winters, the 
prisoners could not consume all that was 
given them, and that large quantities of food 
were secreted, and wasted by them.* By 
authority of the War Department, the same 
Regulations as are observed at all sta- 
tions, where prisoners of vrar are held,f and 
of course at all such stations, the same gen- 
eral condition of things must prevail. 

Clothing, shelter, and fuel. 
Our evidence exhibits that all needful 
clothing and blankets^ in some cases even to 
excess, as well as good and adequate shelter, 
with sufficient fuel for comfortable warmth, 
were furnished by the United States Govern- 
ment to the rebel prisoners. 

Condition of Rebel Prisoners. 
In our visit to Fort Delaware we passed 
through the barracks and enclosures contain- 
ing about eight thousand prisoners. We ob- 
served that these men were in good physical 
condition, and presented the aspect of health 
and strength ; as was the case at other sta- 
tions, as seen by the appended evidence. 
The careful attention to cleanliness urged, 
and sometimes even enforced, by the United 
States officers in charge, doubtless contributes 
to their general good condition in no small 
degree. We were unable to observe any dif- 
ference between the treatment of the rebels 
and the United States soldiers in the hospi- 
tal at Fort Delaware, or in Lincoln Hospital 
near Washington. The evidence proves the 
same arrangements of ward, and bed, and 
diet, to have been made, with all other nec- 
essary appliances, for the rebel as for the 
Union soldier, in the time of sickness, at all 
stations where prisoners of war are held by 
the United States Government. 

Treatment of Union Prisoners in rebel hands. 

When we come to investigate the testimo- 
ny in relation to the treatment of United 
States soldiers while prisoners in the hands 
of the rebels, we find a most serious differ- 
ence from the state of things above described. 

Rations of Uraon prisoners. 
We learn from those returned that the ra- 

* See also letter from Quartermaster-General 
Moiss, .'ippcnded. 

* See Appendix. 



tions given them varied at different timenan9 
places, but their declarations all concur in 
this, that they had not food enough to sus- 
tain their strength, nor to satisfy their hun- 
ger ; and though these men were held cap- 
tive at various times, and for a varying peri- 
od, and at various places, yet their average 
statements are the same with little limitation. 

Quantity of ration. 
Wheat bread was given to some of them for 
a short time, but the bread was generally 
made of corn meal. The largest daily ration 
of wheat bread, of which we have evidence, 
would weigh about eleven (11) ounces, and 
the smallest but little more than three (3) 
ounces. The largest daily ration of corn 
bread was in bulk from thirty-one .(^0 ^'^ 
thirty-two (32) cubic inches, representing 
rather more than twelve (12) ounces of corn 
meal, while the smallest represented but foui 
(4) ounces. The ration of meat was, in a 
few instances, from four (4) to six (G) oun jC'^, 
but generally about two ounces, though in 
some cases it was less than this. 

The meat was irregularly given ; not often 
daily, and to some, only at intervals of days, 
or even several weeks, and when meat was 
served, the bread was, in many instances, 
diminished. 

About half a pint of soup, containing 
sweet potato, or generally beans or peas in 
amount about two ounces, was sometimes 
given, with or without meat In different 
cases. The beans and peas were occasion- 
ally given raw and dry. 

The maximum amount of solid food for 
one day, described, was . . 10 oz. bread. 

G oz. beef. 
With half a pint of soup made 
of the water In which the 
beef was boiled, and con- 
taining about tv^o ounces of 
beans or peas, and, therefore 
representing 2 oz. 

Total, 18 oz. 



The minimum amount was 
about . . . 



Total, 



4 oz. bread. 
1 oz. beef. 

5 oz. 



And so between five (5) and eighteen (18) 
ounces the rations varied, and in the article 
of meat, especially, was the great deficiency. 

Character and Quality of the Ration. 
But It is necessary to note the character 
also of the rations. The quality of the 
wheat bread appears to have been good, 
but that of the corn bread decidedly the 
reverse. It was made of meal which was 



28 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



coarsely ground and rough, contained all 
the hull (or bran), often whole grains of 
corn, with fragments of cob or of husk in- 
termingled ; frequently ill-baked, or over- 
baked, and sour and mr.sty withal. 

The soup was, by universal declaration 
of the witnesses, repulsive in odor and dis- 
gusting in flavor. It appears to have been 
made of the water in which the beef was 
boiled. Gravel and sand were the least 
objectionable of the impurites found in it. 

The beans and peas issued were generally 
worm-eaten, and contained these insects in 
quantities, so that they would be floating 
on the surface, or intermixed thi-oughout 
the mass of soup and beans. 

Ill effects of the Rations. 

Dunglison, in the work before quoted, 
says that " Corn bread, with those unaccus- 
tomed to its use, is apt to produce diarrhoea, 
in conse(iuence probahly of the presence of 
the husk,* with which it is always more or 
less mixed, &c.," and it is " but little adapted 
for those liable to bowel aflfections, &c. And 
Dr. Hassall says, " In those unaccustomed 
to its use, maize is considered to excite 
and to keep up a tendency to diarrhoea." 

Every one is aware of the laxative influ- 
ence of so-called bran bread,f which is due 
to the physical action of the hull of the 
grain upon the delicate lining membrane of 
the stomach and bowels, acting thereupon 
as an excitant or irritant, though tempered 
by the bland influence of the wheaten 
flour. Now what must be the result when 
the meal is of corn, and coarse, and intennix- 
ed with hull and grain entire, with husk and 
cob in fragments, among our Northern 
troops, who are, for the most part, " unaccus- 
tomed to the use of corn meal " ? We see by 
the evidence, that some of the men observed 
the influence of this bread, in producing the 
diarrhosa with which so many were afflicted. 

The character of the soup, as above de- 
scribed, would stamp it as entirely unfit for 
food, and upon men already suffering from 
diarrhoea, the evil influence of such a com- 
pound is but too plainly to be imagined. 
The evidence shows that some could not eat 
it, though hungry to starvation. 

No variety in Rations of Union Prisoners. 
The average amount of meat allowed was 
so small that it is not worthy of special con- 
sideration ; and as to the variety and change 
of diet, upon which all physiologists lay so 
great stress, — it is not in the Record, — there 
was none of it. 

* Prof. Dunglison informs me that by the word 
husi:, he intends to imply that which is commonly 
denominated bran. 

t See Pereira, Food and Diet. 



Comparison of rations of Union and of Keb^l i)ri8- 
oners. 

How do these amounts ^^d qualities com- 
pare with the maximum Wty-three ounces, 
or the minimum thirty-four and a half oun- 
ces, of standard Government food, of excel- 
lent quality, and abundant room lor variety, 
cAid extra issue of fresh vegetables according 
to necessity, which the United States Govern- 
ment allows its prisoners? The question 
may be answered by contrasting the exhaust- 
ed, the attenuated, the melancholy, the im- 
becile, the dying, and the dead. Union sol- 
diers, returning home from Richmond, with 
the cheerful, healthy, and vigorous South- 
erners, held at, or released from, the various 
United States stations referred to in the ap- 
pended testimony. 

Consequence of deficient food. 

Let us look now at the consequence of de- 
ficiency of food, as explained by students 
and observers of the subject. 

In the Medical and Surgical history of the 
British army which served in Tnrkey and 
the Crimea, we find that " during January, 
1855, by the deficiency of food, the efficien- 
cy of the whole army was seriously com- 
promised. Disease was simply the more overt 
manifiistation of a pathological state of the 
system, which was all but universal, and 
merely indicated the worst gi-ades of il. Fe- 
ver and affections of the bowels represented 
the forms in which morbid actions were usu- 
ally presented, while gangrene and scurvy 
indicated those privations and that exposure 
from which these diseases were mainly de- 
rived." Again, " in starvation the tissues of 
the body are consumed for the production of 
heat, and rapid loss of weight is the conse- 
quttuce. The other vital processes all in- 
volve decomposition of the substance of or- 
gans, and add to the loss which the body un- 
dergoes. From insuflicient food for a few 

Diseases produced by insufficient food. 
weeks, disease is almost invariably induced ; 
typhus and typhoid fever, scurvy and ancemia 
are the consequences." * Dr. Carpenter, in 
his Human Phj^siology, says, " the prisoners 
confined in Mill Bank Penitentiary, in 182S, 
who had previously received an allowance 
of from thirty-one to thirty-three ounces of 
dry nutriment daily, had this allowance sud- 
denly reduced to twenty-one ounces, — ani- 
mal food being almost enCirely excluded from 
the diet scale. They were at the same time 
subjected to a low grade of temperature, and 
to considerable exertion ; in the course of a 
few weeks the health of a large proportion 
of the inmates began to give wav, Tlie first 
symptoms were loss of color, and diminution 
of health and strength, subsequently diar- 

* Hammond's Hygiene. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



29 



rhcea, dysentery, scurvy, and lastly adynamic 
fevers, or headache, vertigo, convulsions, 
maniacal delirium, apoplexy, &c. After 
death, ulcerations of the mucous lining of 
the alimentary canal were very commonly 
found ; fifty-two per cent, were thus affected. 
That the reduction of the allowance of food 
was the main source of the epidemic, was 
proved, * * * &c." 

Insufficient nutrition is starvation. 
We appeal here to Chossat's Inquiries, re- 
sulting in the proof of this curious effect of 
insufficient nutrimeiit, that it produces an in- 
capability of digesting even the small amount 
consumed. " So that, in the end, the results 
are the same as those of entire deprivation of 
food, the total amount of loss being almost 
exactly identical, but its rate being less." 

Privations other than of food. 

But in addition to a starvation diet, our 
evidence furnishes proof of confinement to 
overcrowded rooms, without proper ventila- 
tion — of want of clothing — want of skelter — 
and denial of suitable means of warmth, 
whether by blankets or hy fuel, and this even 
during the fall, winter, and spring just 
passed. 

Crowd-Poisoning. 

" Overcrowding, imperfect ventilation, and 
want of cleanliness, are three conditions usu- 
ally associated, and may be designated by 
the single term Croivd-Poisoning." * The 
evidence exhibits that about twenty square 
feet was, in some instances, all the superficial 
space permitted to each man confined in pris- 
on. And, on Belle Isle, it would appear that 
for a time there was little variation from the 
same area. " The air of crowded camps and 
habitations becomes contaminated through 
emanations given off during respiration, 
through effluvia from the skin, and by the 
decomposition of the various excreta. The 
nitrogenized matter earned into the air from 
the skin, and the products arising from the 
decomposition of the excreta, are sources of 
deadly mischief. The effects of overcrowd- 
ing are not only manifested by the increased 
violence and the adynamic character of all 
diseases occurring among those exposed, but 
the development and severity of the ady- 
namic fevers appear particularly connected 
with this cause." t And again, "To the or- 
ganic matters emanating from the human 
l)ody, more than to any other cause, the in- 
jurious results of overcrowding are to be as- 
cribed." 

" The proofs are ample, that the emanations 
from the human body are of a decidedly del- 
eterious character, when present in large 

* Woodward ; Camp Diseases, 
t Woodward. 



tt 



amounts in the atmosphere inhaled. They 
are absorbed by the clothing, and even the 
walls of the room take them up and retain 
them for a long time." * "If animals be kept 
crowded together in ill-ventilated apartments, 
they speedily sicken." f " The continued res- 
piration of an atmosphere charged with the 
exhalations of the lungs and skin is the most 
potent of all the predisposing causes of dis- 
ease." X 

Uncleanliness compelled. 

Dut Dr. Woodward alludes to " want of 
cleanliness " as one of the elements of ordi- 
nary crowd-poisoning. Far more than ordi- 
nary was this " want " in the rebel prisons, 
especially on Belle Isle. A reference to the 
evidence will show that accumulation of filth 
of the most noisome character was compelled 
by prison discipline ; that Important accom- 
modations were denied during the night 
hours, resulting in unavoidable soiling of the 
quarters of the prisoners, while the means 
of bathing, though convenient, were to so 
great an extent denied the prisoners, as to 
produce, in a large number of them, a con- 
dition of the skin, which is not only a disease 
in itself, but Is also a cause of disordei's vari- 
ous and grave. § 

Condition of Union Prisoners. 

We observed the surface of the bodies of 
a number who suffered thus ; it was of most 
remarkable aspect, appearing as though It 
had been covered with a heavy coat of com- 
mon varnish, which had dried, and cracked, 
and was pealing up in scales of every size. 
To the touch, It was as sand-paper of irreg- 
ular quality. The cuticle — both effete and 
living — lay In masses, separated by fissures 
of varying extent and depth, through which 
watery and bloody fluids were seen exuding. 
The soles of the feet were like the sole of a 
plasterer's shoe — white, brown and yellow ; 
the cuticle dried and broken, and laminated 
variously. 

The functions of the skin, upon which 
physiologists lay so great stress, are here al- 
most entirely unperformed, and hence we 
have " gastric disturbances, and diarrhoeas," 
with suppression of that aeration of blood — 
that true respiration, which, physiologists tell 
us, takes place through the skin. Hence the 
lungs are overtaxed, and congestions are in- 
duced. And when to this we add the 
depraved state of the blood of the suflTerers, 
and their exposures to cold, and wet, and 
storm, by day and night, we have, in full 
quantity, those general and special condi- 

* Hammond, 
t Dunglison. 
1 Carpenter. 
§ See Surgeon Ely's evidence. 



30 



tionp, which induce pulmonary diseases of 
every grade and character. 

Clothing and warmth vs. starvation. 

On the question of clothing and warmth ; 
from what has been shown above, a corollary 
is direct!}' deducible, viz.: That if food be 
in limited quantity, low temperature should 
be avoided, and external warmth duly main- 
tained. " Artificial Avarmth may be made to 
take the place of nourishment otherwise re- 
quired. And there is adequate ground for 
considering death by starvation, as really 
death from cold. The temperature of the 
body is maintained with little diminution till 
the fat is consumed, and then rapidly falls, 
unless it be kept up by heat externally ap- 
plied." * Now not only was external heat 
not granted by the rebels to their prisoners, 
but their blankets were generally taken from 
them, as also some of their personal clothing. 

The sick and feeble liable to freezing. 

Further, " tJie sick and feeble will not bear 
the low temperature, which, to those in good 
condition, acts as a healthful stimulant. In 
d'tseases attended with deficient poicer of cir- 
culation, congelation of the tissues is liable to 
orcur, from the effects of a temperature 
which could not give rise to it in a healthy 
suliject." We see that diarrhoea, scurvy, — 
and these two disorders existing coincidently 
" in the majority of cases of diarrhosa," — 
congestion of the lungs of atonic character, 
and "debilitas," (as the medical records of 
the hospital have it,) all stand out promi- 
nently in the evidence, as being an almost 
constant condition among those who have 
been prisoners in Danville, Va., Richmond, 
Va., and especially on Belle Isle. The au- 
thorities hereinbefore quoted show that these 
formidable disorders are the legitimate off- 
spring of the treatment to which our men 
have been subjected while in the hands of 
the rebels. Shall we be surprised that dis- 
eases obey the laws of their production, or 
that they flourish, luxuriant and rank, in a 
soil specially prepared for their reception ? 
And are not all these " diseases attended 
with deficient power of circulation " ? Are 
not the sulijects of the same " sick and fee- 
ble " V Is it all surjjrising that they cannot 
bear the low temperature of a winter on Belle 
Isle, — clad only in worn-out or scanty cloth- 
ing, — with intidequate or with no shelter, — 
with little fire, or generally none at all, — and 
having no resting place but the ground, in mud 
and frost and snow ? Nay, is it not a cause 
for wonder that "congelation of the tissues" 
was not even more common among them ? 
Our evidence tells of many men freezing on 
Belle Isle, to loss of limb, and more, of life. 

* Carpenter. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



Men frozen. 
We saw cases of " amputation by frost, " 
at the United States Hospitals, at Baltimore, 
and Annapolis, and the " Quarterly Report 
of the hospitals for the Federal prisoners, 
Richmond, Va.," (appended,) shows that of 
two thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
nine patients admitted in January, February, 
and March, 18G4, there were fifteen cases 
of gelatio, (or freezing,) and fifty of gan- 
grene from frozen feet 1 And from the same 

Numbers diseased as above, 
document we find that two thousand one 
hundred and twenty-one, out of the two 
thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, 
were affected with debility, adynamic fevers, 
diarrhoea, dysentery, diseases of the chest, 
and scurvy — the very effects proved above 
to be produced by starvation, cold, over- 
crowding, filth, and exposure ; and, as al- 
ready mentioned, the testimony of the United 
States surgeons at Annapolis and Baltimore 
shows that the great majority of our soldiers 
received from rebel prisons suffered under 
the same affections. These surgeons further 

Management of the sick, 
declare, that these diseases did not yield to 
ordinary medical treatment ; that they were 
most successfully managed by " nullifying the 
cause," that is, by nutrition and stimulation, 
with especial attention to cleanliness and 
fresh air, medical agencies being only acces- 
sories, and sometimes not resorted to at all. 
Starvation in Flanders. 
M. Fleury (cours d'hygiene) says : " Sous 
le nom defevre de famine, M. de Meersman 
a trace un tableau complet et methodique de 
I'etat morhide que deoeloppe V alimentation in- 
suffisante, et qu'Il dit avoir observe en 1846 
etl847 dans les Flandres beiges." He then 
recounts the article, which is too long to bear 
quotation here, but it is a most singulaidy ac- 
curate description of that which our soldiers 
returned from rebel prisons state in regard 
to their own feelings and sufferings, — of those 
conditions which the United States surgeons 
at the Baltimore and Annapolis hospitals 
have delineated to us, — and which we wit- 
nessed and observed in our visits to the insti- 
tutions above mentioned. 

Cause of condition and mortality of returned Union 
prisoners. 

It is utterly incorrect to charge the bodily 

attenuation, the mental imbecility, and the 

startling mortality which prevail so largely 

among the men from the prisons of the South, 

upon the mere diseases of which they are the 

subjects. If a man swallow a poisonous 

dose of arsenic, he will sufier pain, vomiting, 

diarrhoea, hoe morrh ages,, and convulsions, 

even imto death ; are these " more overt 

manifestations," — these necessary consequen- 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



31 



ces of the morbific agent applied— to be 
considered as the causes of the death ? Or 
shall we go to the true first cause direct, and 
say " the man died by poisoning by arsenic " V 
So have our men died,— from cold and 
exposure, from crowd poisoning, from starva- 
tion and from privation, while the way to 
death was roughly paved with disease of 
body ai\d of mind,— mere minor manifesta- 
tions of those allied powers of evil. 

Treatment of sick Union prisoners. 
But we further find a similar treatment, — 
similar in kind, though modified in degree,— 
dealt out to the wounded and the sick on 
Belle Isle and in Richmond. The evidence 
of those who have been under the care of the 
surgeons at these stations is corroborated by 
the° testimony of Colonel Farnsworth, and 
by that of Surgeons Ferguson and Richards. 
The latter lay stress upon the ofiensive, and 
"utterly unfit," character of the beds and 
bedding, and declare that the diet was " en- 
tirely msuffieient to give them a proper 
chance of recovery," and state further that 
there was a deficiency of medical supplies in 
the hospital for Federal prisoners, while the 
evidence is before us that at General Hospi- 
tal No. 4, Richmond, the Confederate soldier 
had " as much good food as he could eat, with 
good bedding and sheets ;" and evidence to 
the same end appears in relation to " Con- 
federate hospitals in the field." 
Mortality in Kebel Hospitals for Union Prisoners. 
On the subject of the mortality of Union 
prisoners in rebel hands, we find that the 
" Quarterly Report," above referred to, ex- 
hibits a record, which, though startling and 
fearful, is yet easily explained by the fore- 
going considerations. For what can be ex- 
pected of men worn out, almost unto death, 
by the want of those things which are nec- 
essary for the body,— and then further re- 
^ duced by disease, — when subjected to such 
** privations and noxious influences as those 
described by Surgeons Ferguson and Rich- 
ards ? This "Report" shows a mortality 
among the sick of rather more than fifty per 
cent f* How does this compare with that at 
the United States General Hospital at 
Annapolis which is only eighteen per cent ? 

Mortality in U. S. A. Hospital. 
Yet the cases at Annapolis were all brought 
by flag-of-truce boat from City Point, Virgin- 
ia, and were of the same general class as 
those in the " Hospitals for the Federal Pris- 
oners, Richmond, Virginia." 

Mortality at Belle Isle. 
Further, we find that " a Confederate 
official, whose evidence cannot be questioned, 
declared that of the numbers remaining at 

» Four deaths only occurred from wounds. 



Belle Isle, then about eight thousand (8,000), 
about twenty-five died daily, and that it 
would be but a few weeks before the deaths 
would count fifty a day." From this, we 
have a mortality at Belle Island in a ratio of 
one hundred and fourteen per cent, per year, 
with double this amount in prospect. 
Mortality at Andersonville. 
Again ; the Macon Journal and Messen- 
ger says that " there are now over twenty- 
seven thousand (27,000) prisoners at Ander- 
sonville, Georgia, among whom the deaths 
are from fifty to sixty a day," or in a ratio of 
about from sixty-eight to eightij-one per cent, 
per year.* 

Mortality at Fort Delaware. 
Tui-n now to the mortality among the reb- 
el prisoners at Fort Delaware, where, in ad- 
dition to the more ordinary causes of sick- 
ness and death among soldier-pri#ners_, we 
find " small-pox, the majority of the prison- 
ers not having been vaccinated before they 
came here." Also, a " prostrated condition 
of the prisoners from Vicksburg, a great 
many of whom had to be carried, on their 
arrival here, from the boat to the hospital, 
and many of whom represented that they 
had been limited to half and quarter rations 
during the siege of Vicksburg ; " and _" pris- 
oners°from Vicksburg and the Mississippi 
Valley laboring under miasmatic influences, 
under which a great number of them died." 
Yet with all these extra causes of death, the 
mortahty for the entire year just closed, 
amounts to less than twenty-nine per cent., and 
when these special causes ceased to exist, it 
diminished rapidly, and during the three 
months of April, May, and June, it had fal- 
len to heloio a ratio of ten and a half per cent, 
per year, and was still diminishing, while the 
sum total of prisoners was yet increasing. 
Mortality at Johnson's Island. 
Again; at Johnson's Island, Sandusky 
bay, Ohio, — the climate of which station has 
been stigmatized by our enemies as insalu- 
brious, and in high degree pernicious to the 
constitution of the Southerner,— the deaths 
among the rebel prisoners during the year 
I863,°with the prevalence of measles and 
small-pox, amounted to less than nine per- 
cent.; and during May and June of this 
year, there were but six deaths, that is, in 
the ratio of less than tioo per cent, per year. 

By such contrasts of mortality at United 
States stations, and at rebel stations, argu- 
ment and comment are struck dumb. 

* Since this was written a sworn statement has 
come to our hands, (a copy of which will be found 
in the vSupplem.8nt,) wlience it appears that the 
mortality at Andersonville had increased rapiilly, 
and had" advanced in fa-ct to a ratio from one, hun- 
dred and thirty-fiw to one. hundred and f fly-two per 
cent, per year. 



32 

Additional Mortality. 
There are still others, who are destined to 
fall victims to what we are compelled by the 
evidence to consider a carefully devised plan 
for the destruction of Union soldiers, by weap- 
ons as surely, though not so mercifully, fa- 
tal, as shot and shell and bayonet. We refer 
to such, as, being broken down in mind and 
intellect, and vitiated in bodily vigor, and 
diseased beyond hope of recovery, by all the 
morbific causes which the rebel authorities 
have arrayed against them during their im- 
prisonment, — and who being discharged from 
their country's service for disability, — will, in 
weeks and months to come, swell the local 
lists of mortality in the districts of their own 
homes. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES. 



Kindness of Kebel Surgeons. 
We have been much gratified to find, not 
only from the sworn testimony, but liom pri- 
vate conversation with a very large number 
of our returned prisoners, that the treatment 
and attention they received at the hands of 
the rebel surgeons was kind and sympathiz- 
ing ; their necessities were evidently as faith- 
fully ministered to by these medical officers, 
(with one exception only), as the provision 
made by the authorities of the rebel govern- 
ment would allow. 



Respectfully submitted, 



ELLERSLIE WALLACE. 



July, 1864. 



TO THE READERS OF THE LIVING AGE, 

AFTER THEY SHALL HAVE PEEUSED THE REPORT OF THE SANITAEY COMMITTEB 



Now that you have read — with a sorrow 
and indignation which words cannot speak, 
and which can only be expressed by tears, 
and sobs, and teeth closely set together — 
the record of cruelties inflicted upon your 
fathers, and brothers, and sons who went 
forth at the call of their country to uphold 
her Constitution and Laws, — it is important 
that you should have a clear knowledge of 
the origin of these horrors. 

They seem to have been prompted by 
fiendish malignity and ingenuity. But the 
perpetrators did not arise from the bottom- 
less pit. They were born of women. They 
were originally like yourselves. And if sub- 
jected to the same temptations, you would 
Ixjcome even as they are, and as many 
Northern men have already become. 

These human beings (for such they are) 
have had their worst propensities magnified 
and inflamed by tlie possession of despotic 
and irresponsible power. Cut off, by their 
own intolerance and fierceness, from the so- 



ciety of all who believe in the Declaration 
of Independence, and from the influence 
of the public opinion of Christendom (of 
which they heard only enough to irritate 
them), they have herded together, and have 
" bred in and in " their defiance of the laws 
of God and man, and their hatred and cru- 
elty, until they seem to have been delivered 
over to believe that they have a Divine right 
to do as they please, not only to their slaves, 
but to all mankind who differ from them. 

These effects have legitimately flowed from 
Slavery. You must remove the cause, if you 
wish to have peace and union. 

But this cause removed, by the blessing 
of Almighty God upon our armies, we shall 
dwell together in safety. The Capital and 
Industry of the Free States will make the 
South the Garden of America; will make 
her production an hundred-fold ; and once 
more, 

" As a band of brothers joined, 
~ Peace and safety we shall find." 



APPENDIX 



REPORT OF THE SANITARY COMMITTEE: 



B£INa THB 



EVIDENCE TAKEN BY THE COMMISSION 



BBIiATING TO 



TREATMENT OF UNION PRISONERS BY THE REBELS. 



EVIDENCE OP OEEICEES AND SOLDIEES OE THE UNITED STATES AEMY* 
EETUENED AETEE CONFINEMENT IN EEBEL PEISONS. 



Testimomj taken at Annapolis^ Maryland, at 
United States Army General Hospital, Di- 
vision No. 1, May 31, A.D. 1864. 

Commissioners Present. — Dr. Valen- 
tine Mott, Dr. Edward Delafield, Gouveraetir 
M. Wilkins, Esq., Dr. Ellerslie Wallace, 
Hon. J. I. Clarke Hare, Rev. Treadwell 
Walden. 

TESTIMONY OF PRIVATES AND NON-COM- 
MISSIONED OFFICERS. 

Private Joseph Grider, sworn and ex- 
amined : — 
I come from East Tennessee, near Knox- 
ville ; enlisted In the 3d East Tennessee in- 
fantry. I was taken prisoner near home, 
betrayed by a citizen, 30th October, 18G3. 
I was taken to Atlanta, Georgia, and then 
taken to Richmond. I am fifty-eight years 
of age ; my health was pretty good when I 
was "last captured. The first time I was 
balled and chained at Macon, Georgia. I 
escaped from Macon, Georgia; was taken 
as a spy ; some papers found on me — re- 
cruiting papers. Was put In Libby Prison 
fii-st, kept there about three weeks, then was 
removed to Danville. I first escaped August 
31st, and afterwards was retaken. I then 
had my uniform on as I had before when I 
was taken as a spy. When I reached Rich- 
mond my health was only tolerable good. 



* The term " United States Army " ia used here 
and elsewhere for convenience, and includes both 
the regular and volunteer service. 

THIRD SERIES. LIVING AGE. VOL. XXVII 



which was occasioned by the treatment I had 
previously received. During while I was 
escaping I lived on stolen corn and stolen 
pigs ; I broiled the meat in the mountains ; I 
was in Libby about three weeks; was In 
Danville over five months. Left Danville 
16 th of April to come here. 

In Libby my daily ration was corn bread 
— very rough. It was not sieved -— plenty 
of whole grains in it; (witness gives the 
measure, which amounts to about 31 f cubic 
inches). There were corn husks also In the 
bread as large as my two fingers. \ kepta 
journal, but it was taken from me ; it was in 
the haversack. Had meat sometimes, about 
every other day, about two ounces. Tlie 
bread weighed from a half pound to three- 
quarters — for two men — as some of our men 
weighed It. I could have eat up my rations 
and'my partner's and not had enough at that, 
when I was well. It was just the diet that 
made me sick ; the bread was not done half 
the time. 

Everything was taken from me but my 
dress coat, shirt, pants and boots ; slept on 
the floor; walked many a night to keep 
warm ; there were two hundred and fourteen 
men In the room I staid In ; we laid close to- 
gether, about a foot apart. 

Rations at Libby not the same as at Dan- 
ville ; at Danville we got black bread, which 
we drew until it gave out, then we had corn 
bread. There were lots of men who walked 



t Representing a fraction more than twelve ounces 
of raw corn meal. 



1262. 



33 



34 

all night to keep warm. At Danville we got 
bigger of the black bread than common ; I 
threw it up, I couldn't eat it. It is made of 
cane seed ; I never knew it to be eaten be- 
fore. I was in Danville about four weeks 
before the diarrhoea came on me ; I had lost 
flesh before and since my capture. My 
healthy weight is from two hundred and 
twelve to two hundred and fourteen pounds. 

I went into the hospital when I had the 
diarrhoea ; there got pea-soup and a slice of 
white bread, size of half my hand. I found 
bugs in the soup, that was boiled out of the 
peas. I was there twelve days before they 
gave me any medicine, or told me what was 
the matter with me. 

My diarrhoea had stopped some time be- 
fore I was exchanged ; I afterwards had the 
pleurisy. I have gained fl-esh since I came 
here. They abuse the Tennesseans worse 
than other prisoners. Our food was about 
the same. 

They would not let you look out the win- 
dows. They shot seven men for looking out ; 
one was shot on my floor ; his name was Ro- 
bert McGill; he got well; he had just put 
his hand out to throw out some water. 

It was Avarm enough in the day-time wh.en 
we were stirring about. Sometimes we were 
allowed to go to the privy and sometimes we 
were not. We have been kept from it so 
much as three days, until we fouled the floor 
— this was for punishment for taking a little 
slat or such thin;?, by those who were on the 
lower floor. I can eat two such corn cakes 
as I got. 

JOSEPH GRIDER. 

Sworn lo and subscribed before me, 
iMay 3 1 St, 18(.H. 

D. P. Brown, Jii., 

Uaited States Coinmissioner. 

Private Jackson O. Broshers, sioorn and 
examined : — 

Age, twenty years ; height, six feet one 
inch ; ordinary weight from one hundred 
and seventy to one hundred and seventy-five 
pounds. I have weighed but one hundred 
and sixty pounds ; improved for a while in 
weight in the army. I enlisted from Spencer 
county, Indiana, in the 65th Indiana; cap- 
tured December 16th; in prison at Belle 
Isle, and at Pemberton buildings in Rich- 
mond. 

Was clad with great coat and blanket 
when taken. They were taken from me ; 
they gave me no blankets or covering. I 
wore a jacket, shirt, drawers, &c., while in 
prison. The prison was not a very good 
place to stay ; it was a tent ; I staid in it at 
Belle Isle; the rain came in; suffered from 
the cold; It was cold weather; had some 
little lire part of the time ; 1 had a Sibley I 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



tent very much torn ; the fire was in the 
centre. 

I saw a good many men — over three 
hundred — without shelter for some weeks ; 
I slept on an old coat I got from a rebel; 
no man ever said he was comfortable In pris- 
on ; our men would sleep upon what they 
could get ; I have a chronic diarrhoea ; had 
corn bread in prison ; before I came away 
they gave us more ; I had enough for a while 
of such as was given us ; no whole grains in 
my bread ; it was white corn bread ; had 
pork once ; don't know how often I had 
beef; don't think seven times ; was In Belle 
Isle about two and a half months; got a 
piece of meat about the size of my two fin- 
gers. I judge It had worms in it by the 
holes I saw ; before I came away, I got 
enough of such as it was, but at first I 
did not. 

I lost my strength I think for the want of 
food ; It was a mouth and a half that we had 
no meat ; had not been sick before I entered 
the army; most of the men complained of 
being hungry ; they appeared ravenous when 
the rations were broujght In. 

I have gained strength since I have been 
here ; I have the diarrhoea ; had it about two 
weeks before I came from prison ; I thiuk I 
lost my strength before the diarrhoea began ; 
lost my flesh afterward ; the worst of my 
weakness was after the diarrhoea commenc- 
ed ; could not have walked three miles with- 
out resting before the diarrhoea came on. 

I did not suffer from the want of air, but 
the want of room ; I suffered from cold a 
great deal ; about fourteen to fifteen men 
sleep in a Sibley tent In our army. 

I got some crackers that they said came 
from the Sanitary Commission, a cap, over- 
coat and canteen ; the other men got some 
clothing, too, that they said came irom the 
Sanitary Commission. 

My rations were somewhat less than thla 
bible.* 

JACKSON O. BROSHERS. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 



Corporal William M. Smith, sworn and 
examined : — 

I am twenty-two years old ; from Ken- 
tucky ; enlisted in the 8th Kentucky regiment 
September 24:th, 1861 ; was captured Sep- 
tember 20th, 1863 ; taken to Richmond, Vir- 
ginia; was captui-ed at the battle of Chat- 
tanooga. 

I was put in Smith's building, after being 

* Which being measured, contains 31 J cubic inches. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



some six days at Belle Isle ; in Smith's build- 
ing about two months. 

Had on good clothes -when taken in ; they 
took blankets and oil cloth, extra shirt and 
drawers, &c., from me ; while we were in 
Richmond, there were some Sanitary clothes 
sent there ; they were needed mighty bad ; 
the rebels have taken a heap of Sanitary 
clothing, I think. 

At Belle Isle, laid out on the naked 
ground ; it rained some two days. 

I took the small-pox in Danville ; I was 
then taken to the hospital ; I wore the same 
clothing I had before I got it ; I wore the 
same clothes when I came on here ; I believe 
I had a shirt and my dress coat washed ; I 
washed my drawers myself. 

I came here the second of May. 

My health was pretty good when taken 
prisoner ; when I left I was taken out of the 
hospital ; I guess it was the small-pox, erysip- 
elas and diarrhoea which brought me down. 

When I was in prison, before I was taken 
sick, got a piece of corn bread about the size 
of this bible, (the same referred to by the 
other witness ;) got meat three or four days 
in the week ; when sick, got a small piece of 
wheat bread — as much as I could eat then 

— a piece of beef with it, about two ounces ; 
sometimes a little beef soup, with red peas in 
it, and rice ; we had coffee made out of rye 

— sometimes, once a day — most every day ; 
I took the small-pox first ; I was there about 
a week before I took it ; felt pretty well be- 
fore; did not get enough to eat before ; hun- 
gry all the time. 

WILLIAM M. SMITH. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May31st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Sergeant Alfred P. Jones, sworn and ex- 
amined : — 

I am twenty-seven years of age ; am from 
Worcester, Massachusetts ; I enlisted Sep- 
tember 14th, 1861, in Boston, in the 1st Mas- 
sachusetts cavalry ; was taken prisoner in 
Virginia, at Aldie, June 17th, 1863; was 
taken to Libby prison June 24th, 1863. 

Was in prison two days and one night; 
then taken to Belle Isle, and remained there 
some thirty days when I was exchanged ; 
I was protected from the weather by a tent 

— it was full of holes ; some were as well off 
and others were not — some laid on the bare 
ground — some four hundred ; had no blan- 
ket or overcoat when I went there. 

I sold my India rubber cover to a rebel to 
buy bread with. 

A good many who went to the prison when 
I did, had their blankets taken from them ; 
the men said they wanted the clothes for 



35 

their own soldiers ; I used to see the rebel 
ofncers dressed in our uniforms. 

Most of the men seemed to have coughs, 
and were very weak. 

The prisoners complained of a want of 
food ; it was a general complaint ; I walked 
the streets many a night ; I could not sleep 
from hunger ; all complained. 

At the time I was there in June and July, 
1863, the food was very fair, but in small 
quantities ; received one-fourth of a loaf in 
the morning of wheat bread, which was three 
inches by three and three-fourths, by one and 
three-fourths. We had this twice a day ; 
about two small mouthfuls of meat. For 
supper we had a half pint of bean soup ; 
don't remember finding any worms in it ; 
there would be sand or gravel in it ; there 
was no deficiency in water. We were al- 
lowed to go out in squads to bathe. There 
were squads let out to bathe and wash their 
clothes. 

I had nothing to sleep on ; It was warm in 
the day time, cool at night. 

I heard many complain of cramp and 
pains. I lost flesh and strength, and so did 
the others, from want of food. 

ALFRED P. JONES, 
Sergeant Co. C, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, 1801. 

Dl P. Brown, Jr. 

United States Commissioner. 

Private William D. Foote, sworn and ex- 
amined : — ■ 

I was born in Canada, and enlisted in 
Buffalo, New York, on 31st October, 1862, 
in the 9th New York Cavalry ; I am twenty- 
eight years of age ; have been in the army 
about a year and eight months. 

Was in the hands of the rebels about nine 
months; was at Belle Isle, and in the hospi- 
tal at Richmond ; was well when I was cap- 
tured ; I was taken with diarrhcea. 

For first two or three months at Belle Isle 
the quality of rations was very good ; hardly 
sufficient to sustain life in quantity. It was 
wheat bread, almost four inches square, not 
exceeding half an inch in thickness, a small 
portion of beef — call it two mouthfuls. We 
had this quantity of bread twice a day, and a 
small tincupful of bean soup, which had black 
bugs in it, which would float on the top. 
We then got corn bread, about half the size of 
this Bible, (the same one previously referred 
to,) twice a day. 

I was seven weeks I had no shelter at all ; 
the latter part of the time had a tent full of 
holes. 

The latter part of October received blan- 
kets, &c., from our Government; my blankets 
and clothes had been taken from me. 



36 

I lost flesh. Out of seven hundred that 
came to Belle Isle with me, I think there 
■vverc about two hundred got shelter ; we 
were exposed to the weather. 

There was no name for our hunger. When 
a bone would be thrown away by some, it 
would be taken up often by others, and 
boiled to get something out of it. 

All who were there failed in strength and 
fli'.-h as I did, fi-om starvation, I think. 

There were no sheds put up for us. 

I should judge it was the corn bread which 
caused the diarrlicsa. It appeared to disa- 
gree with me, for when I had wheat bread, I 
kept my health perfect. The corn bread 
gave me pain in my bowels ; often got whole 
grains and husks in the bread, I am positive, 
as I am on my oath ; the proportion would 
be small ; after that, we got rye and corn 
mixed, of a better quality of bread. 

WILLIAM D. FOOTE. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, liUM. 

D. F. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Private Robert Morrison, sworn and 
examined : — 

I was enlisted from the northwest part of 
Ohio, in Pendleton, Putnam county, Riley 
township, in the 21st Ohio Volunteers; I was 
taken prisoner at Chattanooga, September 
20th, 1863 ; I was removed to Richmond ; 
was two or three days on our way ; I was 
stout andhealthy when I reached Richmond ; 
I forget the name of the prison into which I 
was put — I remember, it was Pemberton ; 
I remained there about a month, was then 
removed to Danville, Virginia, remained 
there till I was brought here ; was placed in 
buJfdiEss at Danville. 

Ou" blankets were taken from us ; our 
othy- clothing was left to us: had no over- 
coat ; had no watch ; we saved our money ; I 
put it in the sole of my boot ; they searched 
us for it ; we had a stove — got wood once 
in a while ; it was not very comfortable. 

My health v/as first-rate before I entered 
the service ; I was in the army about nine- 
teen months before I was captured ; had no 
bowel complaint or any other sickness while 
in our army ; when I went into the army my 
weight was one hundred and twenty-five 
pounds. 

I got a chunk of corn bread daily, the size 
of this Bible* ; it satisfied me and more too, 
because I couldn't eat it ; sometimes it was 
but about half baked; it was of a yellow 
color ; it was of a musty taste ; had a very 
small ration of meat about as large as three 
of my fingers in breadth, and about two 
laches in thickness. 

* The same before referred to. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



I was about two months in \ ri;»n before I 
took sick ; my first sickness was fever and 
ague ; I had not had it before for some years ; 
I have a little bowel complaint now, it does 
not trouble me much ; I had the lung fever 
afterwards. I got some eggs then ; when I 
got so as to be up and around I was sent 
back to the prison ; I then took the diar- 
rhoea ; that came on in about three weeks 
after my return to the prison ; it reduced me 
down — was sent back to the hospital ; got 
wheat bread then, an egg, small piece of 
meat, potatoes, salt meat, some soup not very 
good ; there was rice in the soup ; was in a 
bed when I had the lung fever ; I could go 
into corn bread pretty fast at first ; the meat 
was pretty good — fresh meat ; I was there 
about six months; if the corn bread had been 
good, with the meat, it would have been 
plenty ; had not been in the habit of eating 
corn bread ; it was kind of musty. In the 
corn bread there were some grains of corn. 

A hundred and fifty men in the' room 
where I was. In a warm evening the room 
was very close ; we had brooms to sweep the 
room ; the privy was handy ; the room we 
were in was about sixty by sixty feet ; we 
had as much food as we wanted, such as it 
was. 

There was about a foot between each man as 
we lay ; we had a small yard we could walk 
around, about fifteen or sixteen feet wide, by 
one hundred and fifty feet long ; I think it 
was the corn bread and fresh meat that gave 
me the bowel complaint ; I was not used to 
the corn bread. 

I am twenty-three years of age. 

ROBERT MORRISON. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me. 
May 31, 1801. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 



Testimony taken at United States Army Gen- 
eral Hospital, Division No. 2, Annapolis, 
Maryland, May 31, 1864. 

ALL THE COMMISSIONERS PRESENT. 

Private George Dingman, sworn and ex- 
amined : — 

I am fifty-four years of age ; I am from 
Michigan; enlisted in the 27th Regiment in 
1862; I had always good health till cap- 
tured ; was taken at Strawberry Plain ; 
taken to Richmond, thence to Belle Island 
about the 26th of January ; had no shelter 
but the heavens ; was taken by some one 
into a tent ; had the rheumatism. 

No shelter was provided by the authori 
ties ; some hundreds had no shelter, som\. 
had ; no fire ; had nothing to sleep on but 
them blankets I brought ; had blankets when 
taken prisoner. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



(A ration produced) ; this was the rations 
I got ; sometimes we got this twice and some- 
times three times a day (the ration weighs 
two ounces of bread and three-sixteenths of 
an ounce of meat ; both are now perfectly 
dry which causes a loss of weight); have had 
♦neat more than once a day. 

Was at Belle Isle two weeks ; think the 
prisoners got a little more bread on the island 
than at the hospital ; my ration was two 
inches in length by two and a half inches 
wide, and about one inch thick, three times 
a day, or twice a day sometimes ; suffered 
from hunger ; could not lay in bed from 
rheumatism ; when the hungry feeling came 
I got so weak I could not walk ; once and a 
while had a little soup or beans raw ; no man 
could eat the soup unless he was starving ; it 
tasted nasty and briny ; I could walk when 
T ciune here, but had no strength. 

I saw the rations the rebel guards got ; 
ihey were four times as much as ours : they 
got the same kind of bread and meat, but 
they could help themselves out of the bag. 

There were complaints; the doctor was 
very kind, and did all he could. 

During January the men Avould run all 
night to keep warm, and in the morning I 
would see men lying dead ; from three to six 
or seven ; they were frozen ; this was nearly 
every morning I was there ; the men would 
run to keep warm, and then lie down and 
freeze to death ; we made an estimate and 
found that seventeen men died a night from 
starvation and cold, on an average. 

If I were to sit here a week I couldn't tell 
you half our sufferinoj. 

GEORGE DINGMAN. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Private Charles H. Allen, sworn and ex- 
amined : — 
My home is in New York ; enlisted in the 
1 6th New York Regiment last fourth of July ; 
vas sickly then ; don't know when I was 
captured ; it was in Virginia ; was taken to 
Belle Isle. 

! They took my clothes away; my extra 
clothing, my overcoat and blanket ; it was at 
the end of the winter { slept on the ground ; 

' remained about two months without shelter, 

' then went to the hospital. 

It was cold; suffered a great deal with 
cold ; some froze to death ; I only saw dead 
men once. 

We got corn bread and sometimes soup ; 
corn bread twice a day ; meat three or four 
times a week ; I got a quarter of a loaf of 
corn bread for each i-ation about as wide as 
my four fingers, and about four fingers thick. 



37 

I was hungry, pretty ne^srly starved to 
death all the time. 

Rations not as good at the hospital ; not so 
large. 

Had a frozen foot and diarrhoea when I 
went to the hospital ; think it was the beans 
and water which gave me the diarrhoea; I 
relished the bread at first, then I lost my 
relish for it ; was in Belle Isle about three 
months; from the last of the winter. 

Was in Belle Isle two months before I 
froze my feet ; I heard that a good many 
more were frozen to death ; about sixty I 
suppose ; I did not go round the tents, and 
therefore did not see them ; I have lost the 
end of my little toe (witness exhibits his 
frozen toe to the Commission), 
his 
CHAS. H. ^ ALLEN, 
mark. 
Sworn to aud subscribed before me, 
May 31st, 1804. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Private Frank Eiciielcerger, sivom and 
examined : — 

I am from Baltimore; enlisted August, 
1861, in the 8th Kansas, Company A; cap- 
tured at Chattanooga ; health good up to 
that time ; taken to Richmond and placed in 
a tobacco warehouse ; I am twenty-two years 
of age ; got to Richmond 21st of October; 
went into prison in December, and remained 
till March. 

They took our blankets and coats away 
from us ; laid on planks ; on the floor ; it was 
warm when we were crowded. 

Got corn bread, rice, sweet potatoes ; 
meat once a week ; got rice and sweet pota- 
toes every other day : corn bread three inches 
square, one and a half inches thick, twice a 
day : teacupful of rice ; sometimes soup, two- 
thirds of a pint ; we got soup about as often 
as we got meat. 

It did not satisfy hunger ; my appetite was 
never satisfied ; my health declined rapidly. 

I got a heavy cold ; and then went to the 
hospital, when I had the pneumonia ; the 
condition of the other men was about the 
same with regard to their food and accom- 
modations ; they complained of their treat- 
ment while at the hospital ; got dried apples 
and coffee sent to us from the North. 

I had no pain when I suffered from hun- 
ger ; could not sleep on account of hunger ; 
did not guffer from cold a great deal ; the 
loaf shown to me is just like what we got; 
about one-third of it (loaf weighs fifteen oun- 
ces, and measured about thirty-one and a 
half cubic inches), twice a day. 

The rebel guards got the same kind of 
bread ; a great deal more ; enough to satisfy 
any man's hunger ; sometimes their bread 



38 

was better than tliis ; the bread was made of 
corn meal not sifted ; no grains or cob in it 
that I saw ; I believe some of our men did 
complain ; haven't heard any reason why we 
were not better fed. 

FRANK EICHELBERGER. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, 18(H. 

D. P. BuowN, Jii., 

United States Commissioner. 

Private Daniel McMann, stoorn and ex- 
amined:— 

I am from New York ; enlisted in the 43d 
New York ; captured at Gettysburg ; was 
sickly when captured; taken to Richmond; 
placed in Belle Isle. 

Took my coat and blanket away; gave us 
no covering : some laid out on a bank ; 
reached Belle Isle in July ; a number of men 
had to lie out on the bare ground — two 
hundred ; I was there till after Christmas. 

I suffered from cold very much, and so did 
tlie men more than I ; we had cold rain 
storms ; some men froze to death in a ditch. 

It was not much better in the tents ; I saw 
men carried out of the tents in blankets, 
dead ; saw this more than once ; I suppose 
they died mostly from hunger and cold. 

We got about one-third the loaf shown, 
of corn bread (loaf weighed, and weighs fit- 
teen ounces) twice a day ; sometimes but 
once ; meat once regularly ; a small piece 
about as big as my four fingers together. 

Went into the hospital after Christmas, 
and remained till last of March ; rations 
worse in hospital ; as much bread, meat and 
soup given to us the same day at the hosj)i- 
t?l ; they were bad and wc could not eat 
thecc ; a hungry man could not eat the meat 
and soup ; there is but one man here who 
was in the ward with me at the hospital. 

Suffered from luinger at Belle Isle ; heard 
others complain ; had the measles and a 
touch of the diarrhoea ; my strength did not 
keep up till I got the diarrhoea ; when I would 
go down to the river to get a drink, I could 
hardly stand or get back ; river about fifty 
yards off. 

My guards were not hungry, for they 
would sometimes throw bread in to the pris- 
oners; have picked it up myself; it was better 
bread than ours ; not so coarse. 

I saw a man kill a dog and eat part of it, 
and he sold the rest of it ; I got some, 
his 
DANIEL ^ McMANN. 

mark. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, ISiH. 

D. P. Bkown, .[r.. 

United States Commissioner. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



Private Walter S. Smith, sworn a'ld eX' 
amincd: — 

Am from New York ; enlisted August 
27th, 1861, in the 48th New York ; captured 
at Morris Island, July 18th taken to Co- 
lumbia, S. C. ; never had any blanket ; ra- 
tions were corn bread — enough — small piece 
of meat and rice ; done very well there ; 
from there taken to Richmond — Libby 
Prison. 

Was put on Belle Isle in two days after . 
tents torn, holes in them ; about half of our 
men slept outside — fifty ; it rained through 
the tents. 

Some laid out in the snow and frost; I 
laid on the ground ; the men that laid out, 
some had blankets and some had none ; some 
froze to death ; many had their feet frozen ; 
all that slept out suffered from cold some 
in tents suffered from cold . 

I saw men that had frozen to death in the 
night ; I saw this seven or eight times. 

We had wheat bread when we first went 
there ; about eight inches by four and a-haif, 
by an inch and a half or more thick ; meat 
ration four or five times a week, as big as my 
three fingers, each time, for three or four 
months ; after that got none, except once in 
a while : I had a chronic diarrhoea ; kept my 
strength pretty well till then ; lost flesh before. 

The corn bread was very poor— ground 
with cob ; on the days they gave us mi-at, 
they gave us less bread ; when we had meat, 
the bread ration was about one-half the size 
of the loaf produced here, (same as before 
referred to, weighing fifteen ounces) ; we got 
half of this loaf (for the whole day) when we 
got meat; two-thirds when we had no meat; 
we never got as much as the whole loaf; 
when we came away, they gave us rations to 
last through the day— one loaf; we got soup 
four or five times a week at first ; soup and 
meat same day ; latter part of time, scarce 
any soup. 

The guards fared better; they got meat 
when we did not ; they got a third more 
bread ; our rations not sufficient to keep 
down hunger ; suflered the last three months ; 
had the diarrhoea twice ; got it the last time, 
three or four days before I came away ; the 
men suffered very much who had been on the 
island for some time ; felt no pain when 
hungry ; never kept from sleeping from 
hunger ; left Belle Isle, 1 7th of March ; 
think thirty or forty died while I was there. 

I have heard the men running round the 
tents to keep warm at all hours of the 
night ; the river was frozen a little while I 
was there ; the current is rapid. 

The water would freeze two or three 
inches in the bucket at night ; the main 
street of the camp would be very mu.h 
filled with men lying there. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



From the general talk from the ^nen in 
the camp, I think that the statement, that 
seventeen men would die on an average a 
night, is likely to be correct. 

WALTER S. SMITH. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 



Testimony taken at United Slates Army Gen- 
eral Hospital, Division No. 1, Annapolis, 
Maj-yland, June 1st, 18G4. 

ALL THE COMMISSIONERS PRESENT. 

Private Wm. W. Wilcox, of Cleveland, 
Ohio, sworn and examined: — 

I enlisted August, 1862, in the 124th Ohio 
Volunteers. 

Taken prisoner at the battle of Chicka- 
mauga, Ga., September, 18G3; taken to 
Tunnel Hill, Ga. ; was in good health at the 
time of capture ; thence to Richmond, Va. ; 
placed on Belle Isle. 

They took everything except the natural 
clothing, even to knife, on body ; no blankets 
given us ; I hid my money and they did not 
get that. 

No shelter provided ; slept on bare ground ; 
no covering in tlie least ; was put on the Isle 
the last day of September, or first of Octo- 
ber ; staid there eleven days ; men came 
when I did ; had no shelter ; were turned in- 
to an enclosure in which there was no shel- 
ter ; I suppose there were two thousand 
without shelter. 

Removed to the city of Richmond ; we 
were all removed there ; placed in Smith's 
tobacco factory ; no covenng nor bed until 
the blankets were sent to us by the United 
States; received the blankets about the 1st 
of December. 

Removed to Danville, and placed in to- 
bacco warehouse; windows broken out; mis- 
erable cold place ; we took the blankets with 
us from Richmond ; so cold, we suffered ; no 
means to keep warm, except by walking 
around ; the cold prevented sleeping to a 
great extent ; a man could not sleep alone 
comfortable with one blanket. 
1 There was a great deal of stealing of 
?/lankets by the guards ; the men traded 
their blankets for rice ; the guards would 
bring rice to the window, from fifteen to 
twenty pounds, and offer to exchange for 
our blankets ; they would come to the win- 
dows and say, " stick your blanket out so 
I can get hold of the end of it ;" then two or 
more of the guards would jerk the blanket 
away and not give the rice ; this was not 
a general thing, though it was often done ; 
the motive of the men for doing this, was, 
they were so near starved out that they were 



ready to take anything ; the guard would 
pass in bags of sand in place of rice and 
take blankets. 

When we first came there, our bread was 
made from middlings, shorts and bran, such 
as we feed our cattle ; it was a combination 
of most everything, corn-hulls, bran, and 
refuse fiour ; got about half pound : the 
bulk was only one-quarter larger than the 
loaf shown, but was lighter than this ; I 
should say from two to three ounces lighter. 

Our beef, when we first went there, would 
range from four to six ounces a day. 

Our soup was made from sweet potatoes ; 
about half pint in quantity, and the liquor 
the beef was boiled in ; some days we would 
not get any soup ; the soup was hardly pal- 
atable. 

There was a difference in our rations ; we 
drew this black bread for about a week, then 
drew corn bread ; the corn bread was about 
the size for a ration as the loaf shown here ; 
I should judge our rations were heavier than 
that loaf, about two to three ounces, (loaf 
weighs now twelve ounces and a fraction). 

In every ration there was cobs, whole corn, 
as hard as on the cobs, sometimes husks as 
long as my finger; the loaf was sweet when 
we first got it ; not sufficient to satisfy hunger. 

The way it affected me was to make me so 
weak I would become blind ; if I'd get up to 
move as far as across this room, I would be- 
come blind and everything would got dark, 
and I would fall from weakness ; my strength 
kept declining all the time before I got the 
dian-hoEa ; did not have much diari-hcea until 
the first of March. 

I was removed to the hospital about the 
middle of December, from Danville ; I had 
no disease I know of but weakness, swelling 
of the legs, with purple and' inflamed and 
yellow spots ; the skin cracked and water 
ran out of my legs ; rations better at the hos- 
pital, when I first went there, than they 
were in prison ; we were allowed no privilege 
at all in prison. 

After we tunnelled out, we were only al- 
lowed to go to the privy six at a time ; the 
floor was in one mess — filthy ; an ordinary 
one-horse wagon load of human excrement 
on the floor every morning. 

Not allowed to look out the window ; was 
shot at twice for looking out ; a man was shot 
alongside of me, while standing at the win- 
dow ; he was standing two feet from the win- 
dow, with his hand on the casement ; the sen- 
try could not see him from the sentry's beat ; 
I presume the sentry saw his shadow ; he 
stepped out of his position to shoot at him, 
perhaps twenty to twenty-five feet ; the sen- 
try shot him in the head and killed him in- 
stantly ; I suppose I have seen five hundred 
men shot at • our orders were not to put our 



40 

heads out the windows ; this man had not 
put his head out at that time; he had rolled 
up his blanket and was standing; over the 
place where he slept on the floor; his name 
was Alexander Opes, of the 101st Indiana. 
Witli one exception, we were treated very 
well by the physicians ; never heard any 
fault found of any physician but Dr. Moses, 
of Charlcstown ; don't know his first name ; 
when once we had mouldy bread given to us 
in the hospital. Dr. Fontlcroy made a fuss 
about it and had it changed. 

WM. W. WILCOX. 

Sworn tc and subscribed before me, 
June 1st, 1»(54. 

D. P. Browx, Jr., 

United states Commissioner. 

; Private William D. Foote, recalled: — 

The first case of death I remember, was a 
Massachusetts man, who died from frozen feet ; 
from the looks of them you could hardly tell 
they were feet ; he laid in the next bed to 
me ; they first took ofi" the toes of one of the 
feet, and then took off the foot; in a few 
days he died from amputation ; he was in the 
same ward ; brought in the middle of No- 
vember. Saw no man frozen to death on 
Belle Isle ; saw any number of men brought 
in with frozen feet, who afterwards suffered 
amputation ; ten or twelve persons were so 
brought in ; two or three of the amputated 
cases died ; I speak of what occurred in my 
ward. 

WILLIAM D. foote. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 1st, 18C4. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Private Hiram J. Neal sioorn and exam- 
ined : — 

I am from Maine ; enlisted in the 4th 
JIaine Regiment ; taken prisoner at Bristow 
Station, in October, 18G3 ; taken to the 
Pemberton prison, from there to Belle 
Island, which I reached 24th February ; 
remained until January 18th, blankets 
taken from me ; nothing given in their place ; 
after eight days, we had tents at Belle 
Island. 

At first the men had to lay out till they 
could find tents ; had nothing to sleep upon. 
About one-fifth of the men were permitted 
by the rebels to retain their blankets ; had no 
straw or board to lie on ; tents old and rotten 
— full of holes; those in the tents managed 
to keep warm, though they couldn't sleep ; 
those out of the tents, from three to six 
hundred, tried to run about to keep warm. 

Saw many with frozen feet carried off; in 
one morning saw eleven corpses, three frozen 
etilT. Near first of January, deaths occurred 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIE.S 



eight or ten in twenty-four hours, principally 
in the night; I deem the causes of those 
deaths to have been exposure and starvation. 

^Vhen I left, January 18th, there were 
about five thousand men there ; I was trans- 
ferred to the hospital for diarrhoea and dis- 
ability. 

Rations not sufiicient to satisfy hunger; 
waked up one night and found myself gnaw- 
ing my coat sleeve ; used to dream of having 
something good to eat. 

I had a pain in my chest and bowels; had 
the diarrhoea when I was captured ; had a 
pain in my b .rvels then ; had about four move- 
ments of the bowels a day bi-fore captured; 
not able to do duty all the time ; I had be^^n 
thirty-six hours on the march witli one night's 
rest just before I was captured; was in the 
fight about an hour. 

HIRAM J. NEAL, 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 1st, 18G4. 

D. P. Browx, Jr., 

United States Comniissioner. 

Private Charles F. Pfouxstiel, sioom 

and examined: — 

I am a German ; enlisted in 2d Maryland, 
September 24, 1862 ;'captured in Tennessee; 
imprisoned in Belle Island ; reache<l there 
January 21st; remained till Cth of March. 

They took my blankets, sixty dollars in 
money, and a watch worth thirty dollai-s. 

For two days had no shelter ; then I got in 
the tents ; air came in on every side ; many 
men without tents; two hundred men went 
in with me ; the greater part had no tents ; 
some had a blanket or old coat. 

Some froze to death ; could not keep warm; 
one out of my regiment froze to death; he 
reported to the doctor that he was sick but 
he paid him no attention, perhaps because 
the man could not speak English. 

Every morning we carried out some men 
froze to death, and li-om starvation some four 
or five men. 

We did not get enough to eat; ten or 
twelve ounces of corn bread and two spoons 
of beans almost rotten ; sometimes we had 
soup — not fit to eat, yet had to cat it; had 
meat only three or four times while I was 
there ; two or three ounces each time ; I was 
hungry all the time. 

I could not sleep for hunger and cold, dirt 
and lice ; I washed twice a day in the James 
river; strength kept up t*!ll last eight days; 
then I felt sick in my bowels; had no diar- 
rhoea; did not go to the hospital; left with 
the 9th Maryland. 

I saw a good many cases carried in a 
blanket to the doctor, and when they got 
there many of them were dead ; had my feet 
frozen. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



41 



There might be many deaths 1 did not see ; 
I have reason to believe there was. 1 have 
stated what I saw — three or four a night. 

The men would dig holes In the ground to 
lie in at night to protect them from the air. 
CHAS. F. PFOUNSTIEL. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 1st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown^, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 



TESTIMONY OF COMMISSIONED AND 

MEDICAL OFFICERS. j 

Captain A. R. Calhoun, sworn and ex- 
amined: — 

I am from Kentucky ; was not mustered in 
at the time of capture : was captured at 
North Eastern Georgia ; was taken to Libby 
Prison; captured in October, 1863, rnd 
reached Libby in November. 

V\^e were taken from Atlanta in open box ' 
carp, without shelter; we lay on the floor, 
Avounded men and all; men with the diar- 
rl'iOca had no accommodations, and had to 
peribrm the operations of nature in the cars ; 
all packed closely ; there was about lifty 
wounded ; some amputations. [ 

Just before we left Atlanta, one of our 
men with diarrhoea went to the back house, 
which was beyond the line our prisoners | 
Averc allowed to go; there was a bunch of 
dried leaves at the corner of the back house ; ^ 
they could not have been a foot beyond the 
line, and when the man went to pick them 
up, the guard fired and killed him. 

On entering Libby it was thirty-six hours 
before we had any rations given us, and 
would have suffered, if the ofBcers already 
there had not shared with us ; I mean our 
officers. 

We were packed in a room of one hun- 
dred and forty feet long by forty-five feet 
wide, and already occupied by nearly three 
hundred men. 

AVe had no clothing or bedding given to us ; 
^here were eleven men of us ; wliat we had 
was taken from us by our captors ; it was very 
cold ; the windows were broken at each end 
of the room ; our comrades also shared their 
blankets and continued to do so until we 
were supplied by blankets from the Sanitary 
Committee ; even then they would not aver- 
age over a blanket to a man, in my room. 

It was so filthy that . our clothing and 
blankets soon became covered with vermin ; 
the doors of the prison were washed late in 
the afternoon nearly every day, so that when 
we came to He down it was very damp; we 
had nothing but our clotliing and blanket to 
lie on ; the result was that nearly every man 
had a cough. 

We were wormed and dove-tailed toffether 



like fish in a basket; in this room was the 
sink and privy ; we did our washing and 
dried our clothes in the same room; two 
stoves in the room, one at eacli end, and two 
or three arrafuls of wood for each per day. 

AVe were not allowed to go within three 
feet of the windows to look out; but men 
could not help this, and were repeatedly 
fired upon ; in this firing they wounded four 
officers; there was hardly a day passed with- 
out firing; any one whe hung clothes near 
or on the windows, had the clothes confis- 
cated and were put in the cells. 

Twice each day the men were crowded 
into two rooms for roll call ; in this room 
were the sick and Aveak who could hardly 
stand ; the crowd was immense ; our men 
were counted out one by one ; the officers — 
there were one thousand officers ; any one 
not attending this roll call was compelled to 
stand in ranks four hours on the floor. 

When I first entered Libby in November, 
we received a small loaf of corn bread, about 
two ounces of poor beef and a little boiled 
rice each day ; the loaf was about an inch 
and a half longer, thicker and heavier than 
this.* The crust was very thick ; we used to 
call it iron-clad, and grate it and make mush 
out of it, as the most palatable way ; Ave could 
not grate the crusts. 

Atler November we received about two 
ounces of beef once in four Aveeks on an 
average ; from the 25th of March till the Gth 
of May, not a bit of meat was issued in 
officers' quarters. 

For the three months of Feburary, IMarch, 
and April, there Avas a pint of black peas 
issued to each man every Avcek, and a little 
vinegar ; these peas Avere full of bugs, nearly 
every ration ; they called them bugs, but they 
were little Avhite maggots in a chrysalis state ; 
we pounded the peas so as to mash them, 
and let the bugs flow to the surface ; there 
Avas about an ounce of soap and a little salt 
given each man. 

This was inadequate to satisfy hunger, and 
for two months I have had a burning sensa- 
tion, Avhen in prison. In my intestines. I 
used to dream of food, and foolishly Avould 
blame myself for not having eaten more 
when at home ; the subject of food engrossed 
my entire thoughts ; not all suffered as I did ; 
the majority did; some were fortunate enough 
to receive boxes from home. 

AVe were alloAved to write letters once 
each week, not to exceed six lines. 

Boxes sent us from the North Avere stored 
in a Avarehouse near the prison ; Ave could see 
them in the windows ; the contents of the 
boxes were being stolen or ruined by keep- 
ing, and Avhen Issued I think Avould have 

* The same loaf before referred to. 



42 

been eaten by none but starving men ; every 
package and can was broken open, and the 
contents vrere poured promiscuously into a 
blanket, so that everything ran in together ; 
they stole a great many of our boxes : one of 
the guards told me that they saw our men 
escaping through the tunnel, and that they 
did not prevent them, supposing it was their 
own men stealing our boxes; the Sanitary 
supply sent us, we received but little of; we 
were allowed to send out and buy at ex- 
travagant prices ; they sold us the Sanitary 
hams, butter, and stationery. ]Marks of the 
Sanitary Commission were on the cases and 
^on the paper. 

For trivial oifences, officers were sent to 
the cells ; there had been about eighty-five 
men in ; many of those men were innocent 
that were placed there as hostages ; they said 
the cells were damp, walls green, no stoves; 
they were about twelve feet by twenty ; at 
one time there were sixteen men in those 
cells; some had to stand all night; I believe 
this fully. I was in the hospital with pneu- 
monia. 

Just before I left, Capt. Stevens received 
a small box from home, sat down and ate to 
excess, as any man would under the circum- 
stances, and died a few hours afterwards. 

The surgeon was very kind to us. The 
hospital food was just like the quarter food, 
with the exception of a little rye coltee and 
sugar; not quite so much bread. 

I had a burning sensation on the inside, 
with a general failing in strength. A man 
had a piece of ham which I looked at for 
hours. 

When I came away on the 16th of May, 
and saw the pale faces of the men through 
the bars, I cned. They begged me for 
God's sake to appeal to the Government and 
write to the papers — to do anything in the 
world to get them relieved. I am confident 
that if they remain long in that situation, 
they will never be fit tor anything. The 
men never blame our Government for their 
suffering. 

I know the Rebels have plenty, for we 
went down into the cellar, and brought up 
corn meal, flour, potatoes and turnips, which 
r we divided with our fellows; the flour was 
excellent; I ate about a quart of it. lam 
a communicant in the church, and was 
studying for the ministry when the war broke 
out. I am a member of the Reformed 
Church. 

A. R. CALHOUN. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 1st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner, 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



I certify that the foregoing testimony was 
taken and reduced to writing in the presence 
of the respective witnesses, and by them 
sworn to in my presence, at the times, places, 
and in the manner set forth. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Testimony, by letter., of Lieut.-Col. Farns- 
tvorth, 1st Conn. Cavalry. 

Norwich, June 29th, 1864. 

Gentlemen : — In reply to a letter from 
one of your Committee, I have the honor to 
make the ibllowing statement of what I saw, 
heard and felt of the treatment of prisoners 
of war by the Confederate authorities, at 
Richmond, Virginia : 

I entered service October, 1861; was cap- 
tured on the 14th of July, 18G3, in a cavalry 
skirmish near Halltown, Va.; was conveyed 
to Richmond, and confined in Libby prison ; 
was paroled and sent North ou the 14th of 
March, 1864. 

My treatment by my immediate captors 
was gentlemanly in the extreme ; even going 
so fiu' as to assist me in concealing money, so 
as to prevent the Richmond authorities from 
robbing me. 

Upon reaching the Libby, we were rigidly 
searched, and all moneys and attractive jack- 
knives, nice overcoats and meerschaum pipes 
were kindly appropriated by the prison au- 
thorities; rubber blankets, canteens, spurs 
and haversacks were taken from us. Lieut. 
Moran, for complaining of this treatment, was 
knocked down by Richard Turner, inspector 
of the prison clothing. 

There was never an issue of clothing or 
blankets made by the Confederate authori- 
ties during the time I was there confined. 
We did receive one hundred (100) each of 
tin plates, cups, knives, forks, (mostly dam- 
aged by bayonet-thrusts, they having been 
picked up from battle-fields), for the use of 
one thousand (1000) officers. 

Accommodations — In six (6) rooms, 
one hundred by forty, there were confined as 
many as twelve hundred (1200) officers of 
all ranks, from Brigadier-General to Second 
Lieutenant. This space was all that was al- 
lowed us in which to cook, eat, wash, sleep 
and exercise. You can see that soldierly 
muscle must fast deteriorate when confined 
to twenty (20) superficial feet of plank ; we 
were not allowed benches, chairs or stools, 
nor even to fold our blankets and sit upon 
them ; but were forced to sit like so many 
slaves upon the middle passage. 

This continued until the appointment of 

General Butler, Commissioner of Exchange, 

after which time we were allowed chairs and 

stools, which we made from the boxes and 

1 barrels sent us from the North. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



Tliere was plenty of water allowed us, and 
a tank for bathing in four (4) of the rooms. 

There were seventy -six (76) windows in 
the six (6) rooms, from which in winter there 
was no protection. 

Subsistence. — Our rations consisted of 
one-quarter (^) of a pound of beef, nine 
(9) ounces of bread of variable quality, gen- 
erally of wheat flour, /though sometimes of 
weat flour and corn meal, a gill of rice, and 
a modicum of salt and vinegar per day. This 
continued until the 11th of November, which 
was the first day that meat was not issued, 
and bread made entirely of corn meal was 
substituted for wheat bread ; this meal was 
composed of cob and grain ground together, 
and when mixed with cold water, without 
salt or anj' raising, made the bread. Meat 
was next issued on the 14th, and the issue 
suspended on the 21st. On the 26th we re- 
ceived salt pork, sent to the prisoners by the 
United States Government ; from this time 
out, meat was like angels' visits ; sometimes 
it was issued at intervals of ten days, and 
sometimes not in thirty (30) ; the longest in- 
terval was thirty-four (34) days. 

The amount of rations first issued will un- 
doubtedly sustain life ; but their long contin- 
uance without exercise will produce disease 
of a scorbutic nature. 

The rations issued after the 11th of No- 
vember will not sustain life, and without the 
aid sent to us from the North the mortality 
would have been great. Nine ounces of such 
corn bread and a cup of water per day, are 
poorer rations than those issued to the vilest 
criminal in the meanest States prison in the 
Union ; yet this was considered fit treatment 
by the hospitable chivalry of the South to be 
extended to men taken in honorable warfare, 
any one of them the peer of the arch traitor, 
Jeff. Davis. 

Boxes. — We began to receive boxes in 
October. These came in good order, were 
inspected in our presence, and delivered to 
us entire ; they came regularly, and were 
delivered in good order up to about the first 
of January ; after this time boxes were 
sent regularly from the North, and were re- 
ceived by Col. Ould, Commissioner of Ex- 
change, but they were not issued to us ; they 
were stored in a building within sight of the 
prison, and at the time of my leaving, three 
thousand (3000) had been received there and 
not delivered to us ; what was the cause of 
this non-delivery of boxes we were never 
informed. They keep up a semblance of 
lelivery, however, by the issue of five (5) or 
six (6) a week, they receiving from the 
North about three hundred (300) a week. 

The contents of these boxes were, un- 
doubtedly, appropriated to the private use of 
the officials in and about Richmond. Here 



43 

is simply one instance : Lieut. Maginnis, of 
the ISth Reg., Conn., since killed in battle, 
recognized a suit of citizen's clothes which 
had been sent to him from the North, on the 
person of one of the prison officials, and ac- 
cused him of the theft, and showed his name 
on the watch pocket of the pants. Such 
cases were numerous. 

Belle Isle. — Upon the 26th day of Jan- 
uary, 1864, I visited Belle Island, as an 
assistant in the distribution of clothing sent 
by the Government, and by the Sanitary 
Commissions of the North ; this was my first 
time outside of the prison walls in six months. 
The island is situated just opposite the Tred- 
egar Iron Works in the James river. The 
space occupied by prisoners is about six 
acres, enclosed by an earthwork three (3) 
feet in height; within this space were con- 
fined as many as ten thousand (10,000) pris- 
oners. The part occupied by the prisoners 
is a low, sandy, barren waste, exposed in 
summer to a burning sun, without the shad- 
ow of a single tree ; and in winter, to the 
damp and cold winds up the river, with a 
few miserable tents, in which, perhaps, one- 
half (0 the number were protected from the 
night fogs of a malarious region ; the others 
lay upon the ground in the open air. One 
of them said to me : " We lay in rows, like 
hogs in winter, and take turns who has the 
outside of the row." 

In the morning, the row of the previous 
night was plainly marked by the bodies of 
those who were sleeping on in their last 
sleep. 

Fed upon corn bread and water, scantily 
clothed, with but few blankets, our patriotic 
soldiers here suffered the severest misfortunes 
of this war. Here, by hundreds, they offer- 
ed up their lives in their country's cause, 
victims of disease, starvation and exposure, — 
sufferings a thousand times more dreadful 
than the -iwjunds of the battle-field. As many 
as fourteen (14) have been known to freeze 
to death in one night. This I have from men 
of my own regiment, and it is perfectly reli- 
able. 

The hospitals upon the island are Sibley 
tents, without floors, the ground covered 
with straw, and logs of wood placed around 
for pillows, to which, when about to die, he 
men were carried ; and here, with logs for 
their pillows, the hard, cold ground for their 
bed, death came to their relief, and the grave 
closed over the victims of rebel barbarity. 

The ofiicer in charge of the island was well 
spoken of by the men. He deprecated the 
condition they were in, but said he could do 
no more, for the authorities gave him no more 
to do v/ith ; and yet it is a fact that the men 
were stimulated to work at their trades, as 
blacksmiths, etc., for the benefit of the Con- 



44 



federate Government, by the offer of double 
the quantity of rations they were then re- 
ceiving; thus acting out, in their treatment 
of Northern soldiers, the great principle of 
Slavery and of the SoliLIi, that the lives of 
the poor and helpless are in their eyes of no 
more value than the amount of interest they 
will produce on capital. 

The facilities for washing were good, a 
sandy beach all around the island, and the 
whole number of prisoners could have 
washed in the course of the day ; but, under 
the management of the authorities, only a 
limited number (say 75 men per day) were 
able to wash, being conducted under guard 
to the water, in squads of five (5) or 
six (6)._ 

The sickness caused by the above treat- 
ment was of the respiratory organs, pneu- 
monia, &c., and chronic diarrhoea. 

Men were without medical treatment on 
the island until disease was so far advanced 
that when taken away in ambulances to the 
hospital, in squads of twenty (20), one-half 
(^) of them have died within five (5) hours 
— some of them while their names were 
being taken at the hospital. 

Men were returned from the hospital to 
the island when so weak that they have been 
obliged to crawl upon their hands and knees 
a part of the way. 

On the 20th of November, 1863, a squad 
were passing the prison (Libby) in this con- 
dition, going from the hospital to the island ; 
among them was George Ward, a school- 
mate of mine and of Col. Ely, of the 18tb 
Conn. Vols. Col. Ely threw a ham to him 
from the window. As the poor fellow 
crawled to get it, the rebel guard charged 
bayonets on him, called him a damned Yan- 
kee, and appropriated the ham. 

The bodies of the dead were placed in the 
cellar of the prison, to which there was free 
access for animals from the street. I have 
known of bodies being partially devoured by 
dogs, and hogs, and rats, during the night. 
Every morning the bodies were placed in 
rude coffins and taken away for burial. Of- 
ficers have marked the coffins thus taken 
away, and have seen them returned twenty 
(20) times for bodies. You may draw your 
own inference as to the rites of burial ex- 
tended to a Yankee prisoner in the Capital 
of the Southern Confederacy. 

Officers dying, their brother officers pro- 
cured metallic coffins and a vault, in which 
they were placed until they could be re- 
moved North. An officer, (Major Morris, 
of the Gth Pennsylvania Cavalry, I think.) 
who had in the hands of the Confederate 
authorities several hundred dollars, taken ' 
from hi-n when he entered the prison, died | 
in the hospital, and the authorities refused 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



to use his money for a decent bun il, and we 
raised it in the prison. 

Libby Mined. — Upon the approach of 
Kilpatrick on his grand raid on Richmond, 
about the 1st March, the greatest consterna- 
tion was produced among the inhabitants. 
The authorities felt sure of his ability to 
enter the city and free the prisoners. 

We wei-e informed one morning by the 
negroes who labor around the prison, that 
during the night they had been engaged in 
excavating a large hole under the centre of 
tlie building, and that a quantity of powder 
had been placed therein. Upon inquiring 
of certain of the guards, we found it the 
general impression among them that the 
prison was mined. 

Richard Turner, inspector of the prison, 
told officers there confined, tbat " should 
Kilpatrick succeed in entering Richmond, 
it would not help us, as the prison authori- 
ties would blow up the prison and all its 
inmates." 

The adjutant of the prison, Lieutenant 
Latouche, was heard by an officer (Lieuten- 
ant Jones, 55th Ohio) to use tlie following 
words to a rebel officer with whom he had 
entered and examined the cellar where the 
powder was reported as placed : " There is 
enough there to send every damned Y^ankee 
to hell. ' 

Major Turner said in my presence the 
day we were paroled, in answer to the 
question, " Was the prison mined ? " " Yes, 
and I would have blown you all to Hades 
before I would have suffered you to be res- 
cued." 

Bishop Johns said in the prison, when 
asked if he thought it was a Christian mode 
of warfare to blow up defenceless prisoners: 
" He supposed the authorities were satisfied 
on that point, though he did not mean to 
justify it." 

I am very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 
CHAS. FARNSWORTH, 

Late LiewtcnantColonel 1st Connecticut Cavalry. 

Norwich, June 30th, 1804. 
State of CoNNK.CTitnrT, ) 
County of New London, ) 
Personally appeared Chaklks Farns- 
WuRTil, signer of tlie foregoing in- 
strument and statement, and made 
solemn oath that the facts stated 
therein aie true, before me. 

David Y'oung, 

Justice of the Peace. 

Addiiional Teslimony by Letter of Lieuten- 
ani-Colonfil Farnsworih. 

Nouwicn, Conn., July lOth, 1804. 
Rf/"' Treadwell Walden, Philadel- 
phia : 
Sir: — Your favor of the 14th inst. re- ^ 
ceived. In answer to your request for a 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



written statement of facts, related to you by 
myself in conversation, in regard to the con- 
duct of the guards at Iviclimond, Virginia, 
and tiie provision made for the sick upon Belle 
Isle, I submit the following : 

In what is known as the '' Pembcrton 
buildings," nearly opposite the " Libby," 
there were confined a large number of en- 
listed men. Hardly a day went by that the 
guards did not fire upon the prisoners. I 
have known as many as fourteen shots to be 
fired in one day. They were thus subject 
to death if they merely came near the win- 
dow to obtain iresh air. It Avas a very com- 
mon occurrence to hear the report of a mus- 
ket and then see the sergeant of the guard 
bring out a wounded or dead soldier. 

The guards would watch for an opportu- 
nity to fire upon their prisoners, and, without 
warning the prisoner to leave the vicinity 
of the window, fire. 

Lieutenaift Hammond, of the Ringgold 
cavalry, (better known to Libbians as " Old 
Lnboden,") was at the sink, which is con- 
structed upon the outside of the building. 
From the upper part of the sides, boards 
are removed lor the purpose of light or ven- 
tilation. The guard below caught sight of 
Lieutenant Hammond's hat, through this 
opening, and fired. The ball entered the 
side, far below the opening, showing that the 
guard was intent upon striking his man ; but 
a nail gave the bullet an upward turn and 
it passed through Hammond's ear and hat- 
brim. From the position he was in, there is 
little doubt that but for the ball striking the 
nail he would have been struck in the breast. 

The attention of Major Turner was called 
to it, but he only laughed and said, " The 
boys were In want of practice." The guard, 
when spoken to about it, said " He had 
made a bet that he would kill a damned 
Yankee before he came o(F guard." There 
was not the least attention paid by the com- 
mander of the Libby prison to this deliberate 
attempt at murder. 

Lieutenant Thomas Huggins, of a New 
York regiment, was standing at least eight 
feet from a window on the second floor; the 
guai'd could just see the top of his hat. To 
be sure of his man, the guard left his beat 
and stepped Into the street. Being seen, a 
warning cry was uttered, and Huggins 
stooped and the bullet burled itself in the 
beams above. This was the same guard that 
fired at Hammond. 

Richard, or as usually called, Dick Turner 
was the inspector of the prison, and acted 
under the orders of the commander. There 
was nothing too mean for him to do. Ho 
searched you when you entered, knocked 
you down if you grumbled, took your blan- 
ket from you if found lying upon it after 



morning roll-call, never spoke of yoi except 
as damned Yankees — told you "you were 
better treated than you deserved." 

This " high-toned Southron " was employed 
as the negro-whipper of the prison. 

Colonel Powell, 2d Virginia cavalry, 
(Union,) Colonel Streightand Captain Reed, 
51st Indiana, and others who had been con- 
fined In the cells, used to witness the whip- 
pings, (the cells were at one end of the cel- 
lar where the whipping-block was,) and they 
could hear, — even if they shut their eyes to 
the horrid exhibition. 

Colonels Powell and Streight told me of 
as many as six negro women having been 
stripped and whipped, at one time, for hav-. 
Ing passed bread to our soldiers as they 
marched through the street. 

The flogging of the negroes that worked 
at the Libby was an every-day occurrence. 

These blacks were free negroes from the 
North, who were employed as servants, but 
fell Into the hands of the enemy. He flog- 
ged one of them so severely that he was un- 
able to move for two weeks, and walked lame 
months after. His offence was resisting a 
white negro-driver. 

The hospital tents on Belle Isle were old 
Sibleys. These were not temporary hospi- 
tals, for many died in them each day ; but 
v>'hen they coukl not contain all the sick some 
sick were removed to Richmond hospitals. 
These tents were awful places for human be- 
ings to be placed in — without floors, a heap 
of^ straw for a bed, logs of wood for pillows 
— men died with less attention than many a 
man pays to a favorite dog. The hospitals 
in Richmond were much better, being in 
buildings, and were furnished with bunks 
and straw beds — some of them with sheets. 
But though treated with kindness, compared 
with Belie Island, the want of proper medi- 
cines was visible, and many died for the want 
of the most simple remedies. 

Upon the 25th of October, 1863, two offi- 
cers, (Major Hewsten, 132d New York, and 
a Lieutenant 4th New York Cavalry,) es- 
caped from the hospital. Immediately, upon 
its being known, all the sick who were well 
enough to sit up or stand, were removed from 
the room and placed in an empty room un- 
der our prison. Here they were kept for 
twenty-four hours, without food or blankets, 
as a punishment, it was said, for not reporting 
the contemplated escape of the officers named. 
From this ti-eatment, Surgeon Pierce of the 
5th Maryland died. 

The officers in the room above, removed a 
portion of the floor and furnished the sick 
with food and drink, and shared their blan- 
kets with them. This coming to the knowl- 
edge of M?vjor Turnei', we were de])rived of 
rations for one day — October 29th, 1863. 



46 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



This was not the action of the surgeons of 
the Libby, for, witii one exception, they were 
kind and attentive, and did all in their pow- 
er for our conilbrt, but of the commander of 
the department, Brigadier-General Winder, 
and of Major Turner, commander of the 
prison, who, I am informed, was dismissed 
from We-:t Point, by orders from the Secre- 
tary of War, having been convicted of for- 
gery. 

I was informed by men whom I knew — 
Ward and Winship of the 18th Connecticut 
and Ferris and Stone of the 1st Connecticut 
— that the enclosure in Belle Isle was a mass 
of filth every morning, from the inability of 
the men to proceed to the sinks after even- 
ing. 

Many of the guards would fire upon the 
prisoners for the least violation of the rules. 
The men were in a miserable condition and 
looked sickly, worn out — starvation and ex- 
posure was expressed upon their features. 

Trusting that the above will assist you in 
your report, 

I am respectfully yours, 

CHARLES FARNSWORTH, 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 
ISth day, of July, A. D. 1864, 

David Young, 

Justice of the Peace. 



Testimony taken at Washington, D. C, 
June 2d, 18G4. 

Commissioners Present. — Mr. Wilkins, 
Dr. Wallace, Mr. Walden. 

Surgeon Nelson D. Ferguson, sworn and ex- 
amined : — 
Surgeon 8th New York Cavalry; resi- 
dence, Jefferson county, N. Y. ; captured 
12th May, 1863 ; taken to Libby Prison same 
day ; remained there twelve days ; found 
Union officers there ; my treatment same as 
officers received ; daily rations, when first 
entered, were four inches by four inches by 
two of unbolted bread, which was coarse and 
sour about half the time ; a ration of beans, 
worm-eaten, once a day ; about seven quarts 
to fifty-three or fifty-four men, or a gill to 
each man was served ; no other food was fur- 
nished by the Confederates ; what other they 
had was bought with their own money. 

(The ration of light bread of a common 
so-dier in the United States Army is twenty- 
two ounces, and twelve ounces of pork or 
twenty of beef; besides that, our soldiers 
have thirty pound of potatoes for one hun- 
dred rations, or nearly a third of a pound per 
day to each man, besides cofi'ee and sugar, 
&c., &c.) 

The food furnished us was insufficient for 
Liialthful support of life. 



When I reached the Libby Prison there 
were say twenty-five Union officers, no more, 
in the prison, recently captured ; all the for- 
mer occupants had been removed, as I am 
informed (and believe) by the rebels, to the 
number of seven hundred or over ; when I 
left the prison on the 28th, there were sixty- 
nine Union officers there. 

I spent four days in Hospital No. 21, where 
loounded Union prisoners (very fevf sick) 
were under treatment ; I was there partly as 
a visitor, and also did partial duty as a sur- 
geon in the ward ; I was too ill to do full du- 
ty ; I had better rations in the hospital than 
in prison, for I had rye coffee and a little 
meat, say two ounces daily, very poor bacon ; 
the wounded men had the same ration of 
bread, no beans, two ounces of meat, rye 
coffee, occasionally a little sugar, and one 
gallon milk and one gallon whiskey, divided 
among two hundred and sixty men, or about 
a tablespoonful of whiskey and milk per man ; 
they had no other nutriment or stimulation. 

I consider the nourishment and stimulation 
they received entirely insufficient to gi\e 
them a proper chance for recovery. I am 
surprised that more do not die. There were 
many bad cases among them that must in- 
evitably sink under this treatment after a few 
days, and thcn-efore I cannot state the true 
proportion of deaths. The condition of these 
men was such that any medical observer' 
would im])ute it to insufficient stimulation 
and nutrition. The condition of the wounds 
generally was very unhealthy, not tending to 
heal, pale and flabby, and the tissues lax — 
just such a condition as we expect to see 
where the patient is improperly nourished by 
deficient nutrition. These wounded have all 
been brought there since the battle of Spott- 
sylvania Court House. 

When I was captured, I was brought into 
a rebel fort. It was raining. I had on a 
rubber blanket ; the blanket was taken irom 
my shoulders by a lieutenant, by the author- 
ity and consent of the commanding officer. 
I remonstrated against his taking my private 
property, and appealed to the commanding 
officer for protection, and to protect my 
rights. He replied, " Damn you, you have 
no rights." It was not possible for him to 
have been ignorant of the fact that I was a 
medical officer. Some two or three hours af- 
terwards, when I was about to leave the fort 
for Libby Prison, the lieutenant remarked to 
me, " I hope I have treated you kindly." I 
replied, " I have always treated your men 
and officers with kindness and consideration, 
but you have treated me harshly." I don't 
think he made any reply. The Provost- 
Marshal took away my sabre. I told him it 
was my private property, and that he ought 
not to take it away, and his answer was, " It 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



don't make any difFerence, I have a friend to 
whom I intend to give it." 

I liave had wounded rebels under my hand 
for treatment on various occasions. The 
course I have always adopted is, to take care 
of my own men first, then the rebels, givino; 
them equal care and attention of every kind. 
I have taken my own private rations and 
given them repeatedly to wounded rebels. 
All other medical officers of our army have 
done likewise, as far as my observation has 
extended. 

I have been in tTie service two years and 
eight months, and I have been in all the cav- 
alry fights of the Army of the Potomac since 
I entered the service. 

The buildings in Richmond occupied for 
hospital purposes are well suited for such 
purposes, being large, convenient, and well 
ventilated. The wards are well supplied 
with water, and tolerably cleanly. The pris- 
on (Libby) had just been thoroughly cleaned 
and was well white-washed. In the prison, 
we had one blanket as bed, and one as cover. 

No one can appreciate, without experience, 
the condition of the officers in the prison 
during the twelve days of my stay. Their 
faces were pinched with hunger. I have 
seen an officer, standing by the window, 
gnawing a bone like a dog. I asked him 
" what do you do it for ? " His reply was, 
" It will help till up." They were constantly 
complaining of hunger. There was a sad 
and insatiable expression of the face impos- 
sible to describe. 

The bedding in Hospital No. 21, where 
the privates were confined by wounds, was 
vei-y dirty. The covering was entirely old 
dirty quilts. The beds were offensive from 
the discharges from wounds and secretion of 



47 



the body, and were utterly nnfit to place a 
sick or wounded man on. On the faces of 
the wounded there was an anxious, haggard 
expression of countenance, such as I have 
never seen before. I attribute it to want of 
care, want of nourishment and encourage- 
ment. There is a deficiency of medical sup- 
plies, such as bandages, lint, sticking-plaster, 
and medicines generally in this hospital, 
whether from actual want of these articles, 
or from unwillingness to supply them, I do 
not know. 

N. D. FURGUSON, 

Surgeon Sth N. Y. Cavalry 

Sworn and subscribed before me, at 
Washington, D. C, this 3d day of 
June, A. D. 1804. 

M. H. KENDIG, 

Kotary Public. 

D. W. Richards, M. D., siaoi-n and ex- 
amined : — 
Residence, Northampton County, Pa. ; 
employment. Assistant Surgeon in 145th 
Pennsylvania Volunteers ; taken prisoner 
May ibth, 1863; taken near Spottsylvania 
Court House, and conveyed to Prison Hos- 
pital No. 21, in Richmond, on the 20th of 
May, and left there 28th May. 

I have heard Dr. Furguson's deposition, as 
made before this Connnittee. I corroborate 
that testimony as relating to the condition 
and treatment of wounded prisoners. I 
know nothing further in regard to this mat- 

D. W. RICHARDS; 

Assistant Surgeon 145th P. V. 

Sworn and subscribed before me, at 
Washington, D. 0., this 3d day of 
Juiui, A. D. 1864. 

M. H. N. Kexdig, 

Notary Public. 



EVIDENCE OP UNITED STATES ARMY SURGEONS, IN CHARGE OF THE EOUR 
HOSPITALS AT ANNAPOLIS AND BALTIMORE, MD., TO WHICH RETURNED 
UNION PRISONERS WERE BROUGHT FROM RICHMOND, VA. 

ALSO, EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM EYE-WITNESSES. 



Tealimonxj of Surgeon B. A. VanderKieft, 
in charge of United States Army General 
Hospital Division No. 1, Annapolis, Mary- 
land. Taken at the Hospital, May 3lst, 
■ 1864. 

Commissioners Present. — Mr. Wilkins, 
Dr. Wallace, Mr. Walden. 

I have been the recipient of all the pris- 
oners returned from Richmond since the 1st 
of June, 1863, except one steamboat load 
which were four hundred to five hundred. I 
have received, I should judge, nearly (?^00) 



three thousand ; these are in a debilitated 
condition, badly clad, and down-spirited, on 
account of ill-"ti-eatment by starvation and 
exposure, as they all on inquiiy agree in 
stating, and as I am convinced is the case by 
their actual condition on their arrival, and by 
rations shown to me, whi';h they unanimous- 
ly state arc the only ones given them. 

They unanimously statcthat their blankets, 
overcoats, watches, and jewelry and money 
have been taken fromthem,partially by their 
immediate captors, but also in a quasi-offi'-ial 
way, telling them that they will be restored 



48 



CRUELTIES OF EEBEL AUTHORITIES 



when they are released, -vyhich, as far as I 
know, and have been informed, have never 
been done. 



of adequate shelter, exposure during the fall 
and winter. 

The diseases most common amonir these 



The returned prisoners state that the of- j returned prisoners are scurvy, diarrhoea, 
ficials, sucli as guards and nurses, often re- and congestion of the lungs, which are not 
ceive money from them, such as they may amenable to the ordinary Treatment in use 
have been able to secrete, with the promise in civil life or in hospitals of our own army 
that they shall have the equivalent returned | They are most successfully mastered by 
in food, which promise is not performed. i high nutrition and stimulation, with cleanli- 

Colonel Palmer de Cesinola (4th New I ness and fresh air — medicinal treatment 
York Cavalry) told me that while acting as | being of small assistance in the recovery of 
distributing commissary of articles of Ibod ' the sufferers, and often being entirely dis- 
and clothing sent by United States Govern- pensed with. 

ment and United States Sanitary Commis- The medical records in ray office show 
sion, he observed that some of our prisoners that this system is the only valid and effec- 
at Richmond and Belle Isle, in order to re- j tive mode of management, thus proving by 
ceive a less cruel treatment and to obtain ' the countei-acting effect of good food, air, 



larger rations, were acting as shoemakers for 
the Rebel (jovcrnment. He at once told 
those men tliat such action was disloyal, as 
by so doing they indirectly assisted the re- 
bellion. The result of this remark induced 
the rebel authorities to deprive him of the 
privilege of being longer a distributing com- 
missary. 

Almost in all cases I find that our men 
state that when they were captured, they 
were in very good condition as to general 
physical health ; but I do not even need such 
a statement, as I am well acquainted with 
the regulations which govern the medical de- 
partment of our army, " to send to the rear 
every man who is not perfectly able to bear 
arms," and if a few feeble men have fallen 
into the hands of the rebels, they belong to 
the class called " stragglers," which certainly 
belong to the minority. 

From my experience of fifteen years of 
constant medical and military service in 
Northern Europe, the East Indies, and Med- 
iterranean, as well as in our own army since 
September, 18G1, I afhrm that the treatment 
to which our men have been subjected while 
prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy, 
IS against all rules of civilized warfare, and 
that I would prefer to fall into the hands of 
the Chinese of Borneo, called " Anack Baba," 
who murder their prisoners, than to fall into 
the hands of the rebels, where the lives and 
comfort of prisoners of war is a matter of 
such cruel indifference, to say the least, if 
not indeed, as one might almost be justified 
in supposing, a matter of determined policy. 

If I may believe the statements of our re- 
turned prisoners, the diseases under which 
they are suflerini when they come into my 
hands, are attributable to the following 
causes, one or more : deprivation of clothing, 
deficiency of food in quantity and quality, 
want of fresh air, on account of overcrowd- 
ing in prison buildings and consequent una- 
voidable unclcanliuess, and mental depres- 
sion, the result of the above causes, and want 



cleanliness, and stimulants, that these dis- 
orders are the result of the causes above 
stated. 

I swear the above statement to be true. 
B. A. VANDERKIEFT, 

Surgeon U. S. Volunteers in Charge. 

Sworn and subscribed before me, 
tliis sixth day of June, in the 
jear of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and si-^ity-four, 
(June Gth, 180-1.) 

[seal.] H. p. Leslie, 

Notary Public for and in the County 
of Anne Arundel, JIaryland. 

Testimoni/, hy Letter^ of Surgeon Willium S. 
El>/, Executive Officer U. S. A. General 
Hospital Division, No. 1, Annapolis, Mary- 
land, June Gth, 1864. 

Dr. Ellerslie Wallace, Philadelphia, 
Penn. 

Doctor : — I am in receipt of your com- 
munication of the 2nd inst, and would reply 
as follows : — 

I am an Assistant Surgeon of Yolunteers 
in the service of the United States, and have 
been on duty in this hospital since October 
3d, 1863, as executive officer and medical 
officer in charge of a ward. I have been 
present on the arrival of nearly every boat- 
load of paroled prisoners since my connec- 
tion with this hospital commenced. 

I remember distinctly the arrival of the 
flag-of-truce steamer " New ¥ork," Novem- 
ber 18th, 1863, and was present and assisted 
In unloading the men. I went on board the 
boat and saw bodies of six (6) men who 
had died during the passage of the steamer 
from City Point, Va., to this place. No 
words can describe their appearance. In 
each case the sunken eye, the gaping mouth, 
the filthy skin, the clothes and head alive 
with vermin, the repelling, bony contour — 
all conspired to lead to the conclusion that 
we were looking upon the victims of starva- 
tion, cruelty and exposure, to a degree ua- , 
paralleled in the history of humanity. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 49 

I have nerer seen more than the above from tlie coarsest quality down to that mode- 
numbi^r of dead in any sin^^le ai'rival ; but at rately fine. 

other dates, and on several occasions, I have Diaphoretic action in many such cases, I 
seen two (2) and three (3) dead on board have found almost unattainable. When we 
the boat, and have repeatedly known four consider the importance of the cutaneous 
(4) or six (6) to die within twelve (12) secretion, relative to a state of health, it 
hours of their reception into hospital. The cannot be denied that, in many instances 
same condition evidenced in the cases of the under attention, this is the prime exciting 
six (6) referred to above, has characterized cause of the diseases of the pulmonary and 
nearly every Instance, and leads us irresisti- abdominal organs, which arc so constantly 
bly to the conclusion that death has been found among our Richmond patients. 
owing to a long series of exposure and hard- 1 A great many post-mortem examinations 
ships, with a deprivation of the barest neces- of paroled prisoners who have died in our 
sities for existence. I hospitals, have been made by myself and 

I have known paroled prisoners of war to others. The thoracic organs ai-e seldom 
be admitted to this hospital with barely suf- found healthy. The pectoral muscles are so 
ficient clothing to cover their nakedness. I much wasted as to render the walls of the 
cannot say that I have seen any single case chest, to a certain extent, transparent. The 
where a patient was admitted without either lungs frequently are found filling but half 
hat, coat, shoes, shirt, or stockings, but I the pulmonary cavities. Old pleuritic ad- 
have repeatedly seen men without one (1), hesions, in all degrees of extent, are general- 
two (2), or three (3) of these articles, and ly seen; almost invariably there is a local 
think that lean say, that when they possess- stasis or congestion of blood, posteriorly and 
ed all, it was an exceptional case. It is our about the roots of the lungs; the heart is 
rule to strip each patient to his skin, and pro- found flaccid, and often its walls are attcnu- 
vide all with entirely new clothing, because ated ; when taken out and laid down, it 
rags, filth and vermin preponderate so large- flattens from its own weight, is seldom filled 
ly as to render any further use of the various with a substantial clot, and generally con- 
articles of apparel upon the bodies of pa- tains but a very little dark, thin blood. Tu- 
tients reaching this point from Richmond, bercular deposit is sometimes very extensive, 
Va., unhealthy, and in opposition to the and in cases where there is no external ap- 
simplest principles of hygiene. pearance favoring the scrofulous diathesis, 

Patients, when asked the manner in which leading mo to the conclusion that it has 
they lost their clothing, reply that they were I been engendered ofttlmts, in a previously 
robbed of what they had when captured, or I healthy subject, by the deprivation of good, 
else, that during their Imprisonment, often- wholesome food, and the combination of 
times extending over many months, their unhealthy influences, to which so many of our 
clothing, piece by piece, wore out, and that prisoners of war succumb. The liver is un- 
they had no opportunity to procure a , usually pale in color, and of ana;mic aspect; 
change. I the intestines are sometimes much diseased, 

It is impossible for any, save those who j but frequently healthy. I have known many 
Lave seen the condition of paroled men soon j Instances of marked chronic diarrhoea, re- 
after their release from captivity, to have i suiting fatally, yet disclosing no organic in- 
any idea of the s^a/s o/'//ze sZ;m covering their I testinal changes or morbid appearances, — 
bodies. In many cases that I have observed, ' favoring the supposition that the diarrhoea 
the dirt incrustation has been so thick as to is often only a symptom of a want of tonicity, 
require months of constant ablution to re- ' not of organic disease. 

cover the normal condition and function of I consider the frequency of pulmonary 
the integument. Patients have repeatedly congestions among our patients from Rich- 
stated, in answer to my interrogations, mond owing to the altered condition of the 
" that they had been unable to wash their fluids of the system, especially the blood : its 
bodies once in s/c (6) mou?7«s ;" that all that fibrinous portion becomes diminished, and 
time they had lain in the dirt, and, as might i stagnation takes place in the most depending 
naturally be expected, the filth accumula- portions of the lungs, giving us what we term 
tion was constantly increasing. Frequent- j a hypostatic pneumonia, depending on the 
ly, the entire cuticle must die and be de- want of tone in the vessels and consequent 
tached before any healthy action can be ; enfeebled circulation, 
recovered. i The treatment which I have found most 

I know not how to better compare the ' effective in aiding the restoration to health 
cutaneous condition of these men in its dif- of our reduced Richmond patients, is, very 
ferent morbid states, than to liken it, in briefly, as follows : — Quinine, iron, and cod- 
feeling, to the effect produced upon the liver oil, (in their different preparations and 
fingers by passing them over sand-paper combinations), in snia/Z doses; liquid concen- 

THIRD SERIES. LIVING AGE. VOL. XXVII. 1263. 



50 

trated nourishment, a rigid enforcement of 
cleanliness, and regularity in eating and 
drinking, and, if possible, the hygienic ad- 
vantages of a tent ward. 

Our records exhibit a mortality among 
our patients from Richmodd of 18 per cent. 
I am, Doctor, very respectfully. 
Your obedient servant, 
WILLIAM S. ELY, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. Volunteers. 

Personally appeared before me this sixth 
day of June, 1S64, William S. Ely, 
Assistant Surgeon U. 5J. Volunteers, 
and took oatli that the statements 
above made are true to the best of 
his knowledge and belief. 

[Seal.] Henry P. Leslie, 

Notary Public, Anne Arundel Co., Md. 

Testimony of Surgeon G. B. Parker, in charge 
of United States Army General Hospital, 
Division No. 2, Annapolis, Maryland. 
Taken at the Hospital, May i\st, 1864. 

ALL TUE COMMISSIONERS PRESENT. 

Surgeon G. B. Parker, sworn and exam- 
ined: — 

I have been in charge of this hospital one 
year. During this time I have received a 
large number of prisoners in exchange. 
Their condition has been very low, very 
feeble, since last June. The large propor- 
tion of the cases i-eceived here are marked 
'^ Debilitas." It was not specific disease 
with them ; where it was, it was coupled 
with debility. 

The majority of the diseased cases were 
diarrhoea caused by bad diet — of insufficient 
and bad quality ; they have resulted from 
the want ot" variety of diet. This will pro- 
duce scurvy. 

I have seen an hundred of the rations 
served to the men. I do not consider the 
rations I have seen sufficient for the support 
of life for any long time. 

We give our men twenty ounces of beef 
on'a march, per day, and twenty-two ounces 
of bread. Fourteen ounces of meat and ten 
ounces of bread will keep any man from 
starving ; less than twelve ounces of bread 
and ten ounces of meat per diem would pro- 
duce disease, and, if long continued, would 
fail to keep life up to the standard in a great 
majority of men. Lower than this would 
end in debility and decline ; in proportion 
as you vary a man's diet, so is his general 
healrh.* 

The majority of the men did walk from 
the landing here. We did not receive the 
worst cases. In the main, the diseases were 

* A ration which had been given to one of the 
men, produced and weighed : — weight two ounces of 
bread, iind t'lree-alxteeuths of an ounce of meat in 
k8 dry state 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



produced by insufficient and a bad quality 
of diet. Their stomachs were not able to 
retain a sufficient quantity of solid food when 
the men first got here. I was led to the 
belief that the diarrhoea was produced by 
bad diet. 

I found nutrition was the most successful 
treatment. 

Have had cases of frost bite here result- 
ing in mortification of the ends of the toes. 
Those were cases from Richmond — eight or 
ten cases. 

Though the men would be strong enough 
to walk from the dock up here, at the same 
time they wei'e in that debilitated condition 
that a slight change of air would cause con- 
gestion of the lungs, and death. Stimulants 
and tonics are largely used. 

There were a good many cases of scurvy. 
In the majority of cases of diarrhoea, there 
would be scorbutic symjitoms. I had at one 
time eight returned prisoners who lost their 
teeth. I suppose this was owing to the treat- 
ment these men had received, and their diet. 

At the hospital we give each man twenty 
ounces of bread per day, and one pound of 
meat, including bone ; could not give the 
percentage of bone ; we also give vegetables. 
In the winter we give cabbage, potatoes, 
rice and beans, molasses, tea, butter. A 
healthy soldier would get no butter. Twelve 
ounces of meat and twelve ounces of bread 
per day, rejecting the other articles, would 
be insufficient to preserve good health. 

G. B. PARKER. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
May 31st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

June 1st, 1864. 

Commissioner Present. — Hon. J. L 
Clark Hare. 

Surgeon G. B. Parker, icho tvas before 
stoor7i, recalled : — 
A great many of those whom I mentioned 
yesterday as suffering from debility and no 
specific disease, afterwards recovered. Seve- 
ral cases where their appearance was really 
favorable died very suddenly. On exami- 
nation, post mortem, they were found ex- 
sanguinated to a wonderful degree ; the evi- 
dence of which was In large white fibrinous 
clots in the left side of the heart, and extend- 
ing into the aorta. This was found to be 
the case with the majority of those who died. 
In other cases, as I mentioned yesterday, 
they would take on acute disease, generally 
congestion of the lungs, and die within 
twenty-four hours after the attack. 

G. B. PARKER, 
Assistant Surgeon U. S. Armj. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



51 



Testimony of Surgeon De Witt C. Peters^ 
in charge of Jar vis General, Hospital, Bal- 
timore, McL, taken at Baltimore June 1st, 
1864. 

Commissioners Present: — Dr. Mott, 
Dr. Delafield, Judge Hare. 

De Witt C. Peters, sworn and examin- 
ed: — 

I am an Assistant-Surgeon of the United 
States Army, stationed at Jarvis General 
Hospital, Baltimore. On or about the 16th 
of April, 1864, I received at the hospital 
over which I had charge, some two hundred 
and fifty paroled prisoners of war, recently 
returned from Belle Island and Kichmond. 

The greater majority of these men were 
in a semi-state of nudity. They were labor- 
ing under such diseases as chronic diarrhcea, 
phthisis pulmonalis, scurvy, frost bites, gen- 
eral debility, caused by starvation, neglect, 
and exposure. Many of them had partially 
lost their reason, forgetting even the date 
ot their capture and every thing connected 
with their antecedent history. They resem- 
ble, in many respects, patients laboring un- 
der cretinism. 

They were filthy in the extreme, covered 
with vermin. Some had extensive bed sores 
caused by laying in the sand and dirt, and 
nearly all were extremely emaciated ; so 
much so that they had to be cared for even 
like infants. Their hair had not been cut, 
nor the men shaved in many instances lor 
months. On inquiry of these men as to 
what was the matter with them, the invari- 
able answer was starvation, exposure, and 
neglect, while prisoners on Belle Island. 
They informed me, that while on Belle 
Island during the inclement months of the 
past winter, there were congregated at one 
time in a space less than three acres, one 
hundred and ten squads of prisoners, each 
numbering one hundred persons. Less than 
half of these had old worn-out Sibley and 
other tents for shelter. The remainder were 
obliged to accommodate themselves as best 
they could. But a few of them had blankets. 
These were issued to them by our Govern- 
ment under flag of truce. Some had over- 
coats. Many had no shoes except patches 
that they had contrived themselves. 

Those that escaped freezing to death dur- 
ing the cold nights, did so by exercising and 
by huddling together in heaps like hogs, al- 
ternating places with those more exposed in 
the heaps, and with those in the tents, until 
at last they were obliged to go to the hos- 
pital. 

They informed me, that each morning, 
numbers were found frozen to death, who 
had probably died from other causes — ex- 
haustion. They stated to me further, that 



they believed this system of slow starvation 
was carried on to prevent other men from 
enlisting in our army. 

The ration allowed them was a small 
piece of corn bread, the meal of which con- 
tained also the cob, a little rice soup very 
rarely, and sometimes, but rarely, a small 
quantity of meat — a few ounces ; they con- 
fessed that they had eaten dog meat when- 
ever they were so fortunate as to capture a 
dog. 

In the hospitals, according to the statement 
made to me by Hospital Steward James, 
United States Army, they fared a Uttle 
better, although, even there, they had an 
insufficiency of- food, and tiro beds were 
filthy and covered with vermin. He states 
that at hospital No. 21, where he was serving 
as one of the apothecaries during three 
months, January, February and March, 
there were admitted two thousand seven 
hundred of our men, of whom nearly four- 
teen hundred and fifty died.* They lacked 
medicines and all appliances needed for the 
sick. The patients in the hospital had one 
advantage over prisoners of war on Belle 
Island : that was, they were allowed to buy 
a loaf of bread the size of a man's fist, for 
which they paid five or six dollars Confed- 
erate money. 

Out of the two hundred and fifty men re- 
ceived by me, so far, fifteen have died ; the 
post-mortems of which have made apparent 
diseases of nearly all the viscera to a re- 
markable extent. 

I received one man incurably insan*?, 
caused, as I was informed and believe, by 
joy, produced by the news that he was to be 
exchanged. ' I found, from excess of habit, 
they had become like savages in their hab- 
its, and lost the decencies of life, and had 
to be taught like children the decencies of 
society. 

The health and constitutions of the ma- 
jority of these men are permanently under- 
mined. Under proper care and treatment, 
which consisted in their not eating too much, 
a spare but concentrated diet, may have ral- 
lied. In one instance a boy gained forty' 
pounds in two weeks; he still has phthisis 
and can hardly stand exposure or active ex- 
ercise. A case of scurvy occurred among 
others which is the worst I ever saw or read 
of; a man turning red or nearly black from 
head to foot ; he died in twenty-four hours. 

I think nine'tenths of the men weighed 
under one hundred pounds ; they appeared 
to be articulated skeletons; covered with 
simply integument ; had dropsy and oedema 

* The quarterly report from whicli these figures 
are taken, was obtained and brought home by a 
returned Union prisoner. It will be found oa 
pages 68—9. 



f;9 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



in tlie feet, caused by weakness ; and were 
the most pitiable objects to behold. They 
had an uncontrollable appetite. 

DE WITT C. PETERS, 

Assist. Si.Tgeon United States Army, in charge 
of Jai'vis Hospital, Ualtimore, Md. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June Jst, I,si4. 

J^. P Browx, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Testimony of Surgeon A. Chapel, in charge 
of West's Buildings Hospital, Baltimore, 
Md., taken at Baltimore, June 2, 18G4. 

Commissioners Present: — Dr. Mott, 
"Dr. Delafield, Judge Hare. 

Surgeon A. Chapel, affirmed and exam- 
ined : — 

I am Surgeon in charge of West's Build- 
ings Hospital, Baltimore. On the 18th of 
April, 1SG4, I received at the hospital one 
hundred and five of the paroled prisoners 
from Richmond, brought to this point on 
the flag-o!-truce boat " New York. " These 
were the worst cases received at tliis point 
by that boat ; none of them being able to 
stand alone. All were brought into the 
hospital upon stretchers. 

Nearly all were in an extreme state of 
emaciation, filthy in the extreme, and cov- 
ered with vermin. Some of them so eaten 
by the vermin as to very nearly resemble 
a case of scabbing from small-pox, being 
covered with sores from head to foot, so as 
scarcely to bo able to touch a well portion 
of the skin with the point of the finger. 

Their appearance was such in the way 
of filth and dirt, as to convince any one 
that they had not had an opportunity for 
ablution for weeks and months. Several 
were in a state of semi-insanity, and all 
seemed, and acted, and talked, like chil- 
tVen, in their desires for food, &c. Very 
few of them had blankets or clothing, 
some in a state of semi-nudity. 

Upon being questioned upon the causes 
of their condition, the testimony was uni- 
versal: — starvation, exposure, and neglect, 
while prisoners at Richmond and Belle Isle. 

Their universal declaration was, in refer- 
ence to their living, that they were provided 
with only one small portion of corn-bread 
per day, which was made simply from corn- 
meal and water, without salt, not larger than 
a man's liand ; it was about an inch and a 
quarter thick. This was the portion for the 
day. They sometimes got small portions of 
meat once a day, two days in a week. 
Several of them told me that they bad been 
able to get occasionally a small piece of the 
flesh of a dog, which they had cooked and 
eaten with great relish, and tbat they had 



caught rats and eaten them in the same 
way. Many of them believed that the meat 
issued to them was cut from the bodies of 
mules. 

They said, while on Belle Isle they-had 
no means of shelter, but were obliged to 
huddle together in heaps, to protect them- 
selves from the inclement weather ; — oflen 
one or two blankets in thickness covering 
five or six persons; — often lying one upon 
another in tiers, and changing places as they 
became tired out. They state that they 
had little or no shelter while prisoners at 
Belle Isle. 

We were obliged to treat them as children, 
in regulating their diet in the hospital, hav- 
ing to restrain their over-eating, and confine 
them to a concentrated but nourishing and 
generous diet. 

Several cases had no disease whatever, but 
suffered from extreme emaciation and star- 
vation. The limb of one of these men could 
be spanned with the thumb and finger, just 
above the knee. This patient, a boy of 
nineteen years old, would not weigh over 
fifty pounds then, though in health probably 
one hundred and thirty-five pounds. This 
was not a solitary instance, many others 
being extremely emaciated. IMany present- 
ing the appearance of mere living skeletons, 
with the skin drawn tightly over the bones. 

Many of them were laboinng under such 
diseases as dropsy, pulmonary consumption, 
scurvy, mortification from cold, several 
having lost one-half of both feet from this 
cause. 

Several were afHicted with very severe 
bed-sore?, caused by lying in the sand with- 
out shelter. One man, unable to lie in any 
other way but on his face, and lived about 
four weeks in this way. 

Up to the present time, of the number 
received, (one hundi-ed and five), forty-two 
have died. AH gave evidence of extensive 
visceral disease, of which starvation, cold, 
and neglect, were undoubtedly the primary 
cause. Some of the cases sank from extreme 
debility, without any evidence of disease as 
the cause of death. 

A. CHAPEL, 

Surgeon U. S. A. 
Affirmed to and subscribed 
before me, June 2d, 1S(J4. 

D. p. Brown, Jr., 

United Slates Commissioner. 

Testimony of Miss D. L. Dix, taken at Bal- 
timore, Maryland, June 1st, 18G4. 

Miss D. L. Dix sworn and examined : — 

Last winter I was at Annapolis and ex- 
amined many hundred returned prisoners. 
I inquired of these men exactly the manner 
in which they were fed and treated on Belle 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR, 



Island, examined them individually, and by 
eixes and sevens. I saw no disposition on 
the part of these men to exaggerate their 
Bufferings. 

Inquiring from what causes they had suf- 
fered most severely, whether rapid marches, 
exposure to inclement weather, lack of ap- 
parel, or hunger, — the^answer was invari- 
ably, " From hunger wliilc at Belle Island." 
I inquired the amount of animal food allowed 
a day, when tliey had any at all ; they re- 
plied that an iron-bound bucket, 'filled with 
packed meat, was the allowance for one 
hundred men ; the weight of bucket and 
meat would be twenty-five pounds. When 
cooked this afforded a very small quantity 
for each man. 

As Winter and Spring advanced, the only 
food supplied was corn-meal mixed with 
water and roughly baked. This bucket of 
meat I speak of was allowed them about 
twice a week, with a very little rice in the 
autumn. I understand that in the hospitals 
they occasionally had a little boiled rice, to 
which was sometimes added a very small 
quantity of brown sugar or molasses. 

I gatlicr from Confederate authority as 
well as from our returned prisoners, — and 
a Confederate official whose evidence cannot 
be qucsiioned in that matter, declared, that 
the sole sustenance at Belle Island was corn- 
meal and water, — that of the numbers re- 
maining at Belle Island, then about eight 
thousand, about twenty-five died daily; that 
the mortality in Georgia was still greater, 
and that it would be but a few weeks before 
the deaths would count fifty a day. 

Another fact which he affirmed as a rea- 
son for withholding so much from our prison- 
ers, sent by their friends and the Govern- 
ment, was the cruel and severe restrictions 
imposed on their men in our hands. 

I had visited those very prisoners to whom 
he referred at Point Lookout ; they were 
supplied with vegetables, with the best wheat 
bread, and fresh or salt meat three times 
daily in abundant measure — the full Gov- 
! ernment ration. 

In the camp of about nine thousand rebel 
prisoners, there were but four hundred re- 
ported to the sui'geon ; of these, one hundred 
were confined to their beds, thirty were very 
sick, and perhaps fifteen or twenty would 
never recover. 

The hospital food consisted of beef tea, 
beef soup, rice, milk, milk punch, milk gruel, 
lemonade, stewed fruits, beef-steak, vegeta- 
bles and mutton ; white sugar was employed 
in cooking. The supplies were, in fact, 
more ample and abundant than in hospitals 
where our own men were under treatment. 

To return to the condition of the Federal 
prisoners on Belle Island, there was at no 



53 



time adequate shelter for the entire number 
till late in spring, when the number had 
been greatly reduced by transfer to Georgia, 
exchanges and death. 

I was told that in the morning it was not 
uncommon to find men dead from exposure 
and rain. 

I have repeatedly seen the exchanged 
prisoners reduced to the lowest extremity 
through want of iboJ. Of more than four 
hundred landed in Baltimore, some little 
time since, nearly, if not the entire number, 
were suffering from the cfl'ccts of hunger ; 
more than one hundred of these were taken 
a few yards across the wharf, to the hospital, 
on stretchers ; seven died before they could 
be taken into the building, and seven more 
that same night. Their clothing was filthy 
to the last degree ; they were covered with 
vermin ; they were the merest bund'es of 
bones and skin, and some bones piercing the 
flesh. The cries of these poor men for food 
were pitiful in the extreme. 

In addition to their other sufferings, many 
had lost portions of their feet by frost. The 
minds showed the v/eakness of -the body. 
Some were reduced to idiocy. They would 
entreat for an apple or a bit of r«eat to look 
at, if they could not be allowed solid food. 
Many of these poor creatures died, and 
others, I understand from surgeons, are en- 
feebled for life. 

Many of these prisoners when brought on 
the flag-of-truce boat, were observed to clasp 
their hands and fix their gaze upon the 
American flag : " It is enough, thank God, 
we are at home." A remarkable trial of 
disinterestedness : Rev. M. Hall said, '• What 
can I do for you, my boys?" " Ilastan ex- 
changes and bring away our comrades." 

A gentleman of Washington, who had 
been permitted to convey a body for burial 
to the South, on board the flag-ot-truce boat, 
remarked that all the rebel prisoners were 
in vigorous health, eijuipped in clothes fur- 
nished by the United States Government; 
many of them with blankets and haversacks, 
while we received in return not one able- 
bodied man at that time. I have witnessed 
this fact myself, on other occasions on the 
flag-of-truce boats. 

The rations served to the prisoners on 
Belle Island, whether drawn from supplies 
furnished by the Federal Government, or 
through the individual liberality of North- 
ern citizens, Avere never dispensed in suf- 
ficient quantities by the Confederate author- 
ities to satisfy hunger. 

I have seen tons of provisions shipped on 

the flag-of-truce boat from the North, for the 

relief of our prisoners at Richmond. Little 

or nothing came from the South for rebel 

1 prisoners at the North. Clothing and blank- 



54 



ets were sent by our Government to the pris- 
oners in quantities, but not fully distributed. 
One reason wiiy our men were so wholly 
destitute of clothinji at a late season, was the 
temptation they were under to give them 
away for a biscuit, or a small quantity of food, 
to save them from starvation. 

D. L. DIX. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 1, ISW. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

I certify that the foregoing testimony was 
taken and reduced to writing in presence of 
the respective witnesses, and by them sworn 
or affirmed to in my presence, at the times, 
places, and in the manner set forth. 
D. P. BROWN, JR., 

United States Commissioner. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



Testimony of Joseph B. A hhott. Special Re- 
lief Agent United States Sanitary Com- 
mission, taken at Washington, D. C, June 
3rd, 1864. 

CoMMissioxERS PRESENT. — Mr. Wilkins, 
Dr. Wallace, Mr. Walden. 

Joseph B. Abbott, aged twenty-eight years, 
Agent of Special Relief Department, United 
States Sanitary Commission. Holds his com- 
mission as Chief Assistant, Special Relief 
Department, United States Sanitary Com- 
mission. Is a native of New Hampshire, has 
been a resident of North Carolina, resided 
in North Carolina nearly four j'ears, prior to 
the war. Has been engaged with the United 
States Sanitary Commission since March 
12th, 1862. 

During the past Spring, since February, 
my position has given me means of observa- 
tion of returned prisoners from Richmond, 
Belle Island, Danville, Salisbury, and Co- 
lumbia, but directly from Richmond. I first 
came in contact at Fortress Monroe with 
prisoners on flag-of-truce boats, from City 
Point to Annapolis. The men had no blank- 
ets, but what were said to have been fur- 
nished them at City Point by the United 
States Government. Very few had coats ; 
many had no shirts ; pants, poor, ragged and 
dirty ; clothing all dirty ; skin very filthy, 
and covered with vermin. One man had 
convulsions all the time during the trip. As- 
sistant Surgeon Dr. Fry told me that they 
were caused by vermin. The man was much 
emaciated ; vermin very thick upon his body 
— common body lice. He was scratching as 
at lice, and throwing them off him and slap- 
ping them with his blanket. 

This is a general statement of all my ob- 
servation. 



My experience extended over three boat 
loads. No difference in the condition of the 
prisoners' clothing. The condition of the 
men on the last boat as to physical state, was 
worse than all previous. Two or three boat 
loads have arrived since my services ceased. 
JNIr. Thompson, one of the United States 
Sanitary Commission Agents, accompanied 
the men on these boats. Mr. Thompson is 
now at White House, Virginia, on the Pa- 
munky river. Cannot communicate with 
him by tetegraph. 

In general aspect and condition of re- 
turned prisoners, all were more or less ema- 
ciated. Of the first boat load, three-fiiths 
very much so. Of second and thii-d boats, 
four-fifths very much so. The condition of 
some of those who were less emaciated than 
others was owing to their having money with 
which they purchased provisicni. 1 believe 
the fact from statements made by there en my 
inquiry. My attention was drawn to the 
fact by the Assistant Surgeon. I could pick 
out the men that had money by their physi- 
cal condition. 

Clothing was usually taken from them by 
their captors before their arrival at Rich- 
mond. Money was taken from them official- 
ly just before entering prison, except those 
that had succeeded in secreting it. I believe 
these facts from statements made by the men. 
They were also credited with the amounts, 
and were told that when released the amounts 
would be returned. I heard of no soldier 
who had it returned to him. In case of of- 
ficers it was sometimes retm-ned in Confed- 
erate currency. 

On the first boat load there was about one 
hundred and fifty on cots sick, — with diar- 
rhoea generally. ]\Iany of these one hun- 
dred and fifty men had the scurvy ; great 
many suffering fi-om pneumonia. Often 
heard the physician say that these disorders 
were due to confinement, exposure, and bad 
food. In all I saw some ten or twelve dying 
on the boats. From the last boat I saw five 
come off on shore in a dying state. I saw 
one man die on the boat ; the Doctor said 
his death was caused by starvation. Saw 
one already dead on the boat at Fortress 
Monroe. The Doctor said his death was 
caused by eating. He died from eating too 
much after he had been starved. He ob- 
tained this over amount of food after having 
come into our hands. 

The Doctor said that he had to be very 
cautious in giving them their rations, or they 
would injure themselves by getting too much ; 
that several had died in consequence of eat- 
ing too much, which they obtained from their 
comrades, who were too feeble and too fai 
gone to eat the rations which were given 
them. Some would secrete their rations and 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



trj' to get a second ration. The Assistant 
Surgeon told me that the one I had seen 
dead had eaten three rations which he had 
obtained from his comrades. 

The prisoners on board the boats stated 
that their diseases and sufferings, such as I 
witnessed, were caused by want of protection 
fi-om wet and cold, and by insufficient and 
bad food : this was their invariable state- 
ment. 

The Union prisoners were not at all vin- 
dictive, and expressed a desire to have the 
rebel prisonei-s well clothed and fed ; this 
was the case with all the men I spoke to on 
the subject on the tliree ])oats. 

My reason for making this inquiry was the 
remark of the Union prisoners in regard to 
the healthy condition of the rebel prisoners 
who were exchanged. Some of them re- 
marked that it would make the condition of 
the Union prisoners worse if they attempted 
to retaliate, and would do no good. The 
general idea as expressed by the men was, 



55 

that they did not wish to ave the rebel pris- 
oners treated as they had been. 

I have been on the battle-field and in hos- 
pitals and witnessed much suffering, but never 
did I experience so sad and deplorable a con- 
dition of human beings, as that of the pa- 
roled Union prisoners just from Belle Island, 
and the rebel prisons of the South, emaciated 
by starvation, with impaired minds, vision, 
powers of speech and hearing, occasioned by 
want of sufficiency of wholesome food, ex- 
posure to the cold and inclement storms of wind 
and rain. I believe from what I have seen 
and experienced among our unfortunate pris- 
oners on board the flag of-truce boats, that 
their barbarous treatment and sufferings 
which they endured while confined in the 
military prisons of the South can hardly be 
exaggerated. J. B. ABBOTT. 

Sworn and subscribed befbre me at Washing- 
ton, D. C, this 3d day of June, A. D. ISfri. 

M. H. N. Kendig, 

Notary Public. 



QUARTERLY REPORT 

0/ the Hospitals for the Federal prisoners, Richmond, Va., furnished by Surgeon-Gerierat, 
C. S. A., April 1, 1864. Obtained by a paroled and returned Federal prisoner. 



DISEASES. 



Febris Cont. Communis 

' Int. Quart 

'' " Tertiana 

" Remittent 

" Typhoides 

Erysipelas 

Rubeola 

Variola ) Convales- 

Varioloides | cents . . 

Diarrlioea Acuta .'•■. 

" Chronica .... 

Dysentery Acuta 

" Chronica . . . 

Dyspepsia 

Enteritis 

Gastritis 

Hepatitis Chronica .... 

Icterus 

Parotitis 

Tonsillitis 

Asthma 

Bronchitis Acuta 

" Chronica .... 

Catarrhus Epidemicus . 

Laryngitis 

Phthisis Pulmonalis . . . 

Pleuritis 

Pneumonia 

Anfemia 

Cerebritis 

Epilepsia 

Bleningitis 

Neuralgia 

Paralysis 

Tetanus 

Bubo Syphiliticum 

Cystitis 

Gonorrhoea ^. 

Nephritis .". 

OrchiiUs 

Syphifttis Primitiva. . . . 
" Consect .... 



Jan. Feb. 



Mar. 



2 
1 

3 
7 
1 

46 

45 
1 

.35 
2 
8 

10 
207 
1 
1 
1 
1 
3 



100 13 



DISEASES. 



Anasarca 

Ascites 

Hydrothorax 

Rheumatism Acute .... 
" Chronica . 

Abseessus 

Anthrax 

Ulcus 

Contusio 

Gclatio 

Vulnus Incisum 

Lumbago 

Vulnus Sclopiticura. . . . 

Otitis 

Debilitas 

HcBmorrhois 

Morbi Cutis 

.Scorbutus 

Tumores 

Dry Gangrene from 
frozen Feet 

Total 

Total Deaths 



Jan. 



Feb. Mar. 



12 



20 



881 1 501 



j2779 
11396 



A true copy. 
(Signed) 



A. R. ROOT, 



Colonel Conuaanding, Camp Parole, 
A true copy. 

B. A. VANDERKIEFT, 

Surgeon U. S. Vols, in charge U. S. General Hospi- 
pital, Division No. 1, Annapolis, Md. 

The Commission have received a letter from Col. 
A. K. Root, Commanding, &c., stating that he has 
satisfactory evidence of tlie authenticity and relia- 
bleness of this " Quarterly Report." 



56 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



EVIDENCE EELATING TO UNITED STATES STATIONS FOE EEBEL PEISONEES. 



Letter from Quartermaster-General, M. C. 

Meigs, United States Army. 

Quautkrmastkr-Genkkal's Office, 

Washington, D. C, July Gth, 18G4. 

Dr. Elleslie Wallace, Philadelphia. 

Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter of the 20th ult., in 
which, in behalf of a Committee of the Unit- 
ed States Sanitary Commission, you make 
inquiry in relation to the condition and treat- 
ment of rebel prisoners of war in our hands. 

In reply, you are respectfully informed 
that such prisoners are treated with all the 
consideration and kindness that might be ex- 
pected of a humane and Christian people. 
The rations allowed to them are ample and 
of good quality. The reduction recently 
made in the prisoner's ration was for the 
purpose of bringing it nearer to what the 
rebel authorities profess to allow their sol- 
diers, and no complaint has been heard of its 
insufficiency. 

Suitable provision has been made by the 
Government for supplying the prisoners with 
all necessary clothing and blankets ; and at 
each depot there is a sutler, authorized to 
sell to them, at reasonable rates, certain 
prescribed articles of comfort and conveni- 
ence, such as our soldiers desire to purchase. 

Fuel is provided by the army regulations, 
and is liberally furnished. 

Shelter is not denied to any " during the 
inclement and cold season," and for those 
who require them, comfortable hospital ac- 
commodations, and skilful medical and sur- 
gical attention are provided. 

The Commissary-General of Prisoners in- 
forms me that he has heard of no order to 
shoot prisoners for being at the windows or 
near them, and he does not believe that or- 
ders of that character have any where been 
given. He has heard of no prisoners being 
shot under such circustances. 

General Butler did, in the early part of 
this year, offer to exchange prisoners, grade 
for grade, and man for man, of those at Point 
Lookout, and two other places, but the pro- 
position was not acceded to by the rebel au- 
thorities. 

Your inquiries are thus substantially an- 
swered. 

I enclose copies of the orders of the Com- 
missary-General of Prisoners, regulating the 
conduct and treatment of prisoners of war, 
and the rations thej[ now receive.* 
I am, very I'cspcctfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

M. C. MEIGS, 

Quartermaster-General. 

* Printed in this Appendix. 



Testimony taken at Fort Delaware, 
June 2lst, 1864. 

Commissioners Present. — Dr. Wal- 
lace, Judge Hare. 

Captain Gilbert S. Clark, sworn and 
examined: — 

I came to this post 18th March, 1862, and 
the Subsistence Department at this post has ' 
been under my charge since May, 1862. 

The rations v/ere as follow : 

Bread — 18 ounces per ration ; or, 

Corn Meal — 20 ounces per ration. 

Beef — 1 pound per ration ; or. 

Bacon or Pork — | pound per ration. 

Beans — 8 quarts per one hundred men ; or, 

Hominy or Rice — 10 pounds per one hun- 
dred men. 

Sugar — 14 pounds per one hundred men. 

Rio Coffee — 7 or 9 pounds per hundred 
men. 

Adamantine Candles — 5 per one hundred 
men ; or. 

Tallow Candles — C per one hundred men. 

Soap — 4 pounds per one hundred men. 

Salt — 2 quarts per one hundred men. 

Molasses — 4 quarts per one hundred men, 
twice per week. 

Potatoes — 1 pound per man, three times 
per week. 

When beans were issued, hominy or rice 
not Issued. 

These were the rations to which the pris- 
oners were entitled. Bread was Issued, In 
point of fact, and not corn meal. Fresh beef 
was Issued, during this time, four times a 
week. When we had to give them hard 
bread they received a pound. When fresh 
beef was given, a pound and a quarter was 
given, and a less proportion of salt meat. 

This was done by orders of the command- 
ing officer, with a view to the sanitary condi- 
tion of the men. 

According to instructions for the Commis- 
sary-General of Prisoners, a fund was creat- 
ed by selling all surplus rations, under regu- 
lations, and with this fund were purchased 
vegetables In addition to the regular rations. 
The order referred to, under which this 
course was adopted, was as follows : 

CIRCULAR. 



" V. A general fund, for the benefit of the 
prisoner, will be made b}' withholding from 
their rations all that can be spared without 
Inconvenience to them, and selling this sur- 
plus, under existing regulations, to the Com- 
missary, who will hold the funds In his hands, 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



and be acountable for them, subject to the 
commaudinji ofBeer's order to cover pur- 
chases. The purchases with the fund will 
be made by or thi-ough the Quartermaster, 
with the approval or order of the command- 
ing officer, the bills being paid by the Com- 
missary, who will keep au account book, in 
%vhich will bo carefully entered all receipts 
and payments, with the vouchers; and he 
will keep the commanding officer advised, 
from time to tiine, of the amount of this fund. 
At the end of the month he will furnish the 
commanding officer with an account of the 
fund lor the month, showing the receipts and 
(Usbursements, which account will be for- 
warded to the Commissary-General of Pri- 
soners, with the remarks of the commanding 
officer. With this fund will be purchased all 
such articles as may be nc^cessary for the 
health and comfo;t of the prisoners, and 
which would otherwise have to be purchased 
by the Government : among these articles 
are all table furniture and cooking utensils, 
articles for policing uurposes, bedticks and 
straw, the means of improving or enlarging 
the baiTacks accommodation, extra pay to 
clerks who have charge of the camp, post- 
office, and who keep the accounts of moneys 
deposited with the commanding officer, &c., 
&c." 

The provisions, according to my return, 
actually issued, were the same as for the 
garrison troops. The rations detailed above 
were the rations actually given to the men. 
The amount drawn on the books, for their 
account, was larger — and as large as that 
issued to the gamson, with the exception of 
flour oi bread, which was eighteen ounces 
instead of twenty-two ounces. When I say 
actually issued, I mean when entered on my 
returns as issued. The difi'erence between 
the amount thus issued, and the amount 
given as above, was sold and converted into 
a fund for the benefit of the prisoners, as I 
have stated, according to the order of which 
I have given an extract. 

This fund was expended and applied for 
tfceir use in the purchase of extra vegetables 
and articles of comfort. 

This course is pursued towards our own 
troops in camp and garrison ; the surplus 
which they do not use being sold for their 
benefit to the Commissary of Subsistence, 
and regularly entered, and the proceeds ap- 
plied to their use. ^ 

The surplus rations sold for the prisoners 
were about the same as those sold for the 
garrison at the same time, showing that the 
amount actually consumed by the prisoners 
■was about the same, per man, as that con- 
sumed by the garrison. When hard bread 
ii issued, prisoners not unfrequently leave a 



57 

portion of it on the table. A large amount 
of bread has been found stowed away by 
them in the barracks. The rations are pre- 
cisely the same as that used for garrison, and 
of very good quality. 

My expenditures for vegetables alone, for 
the use of the prisoners, out of the fund 
arising from the sale of the surplus rations, 
amounted, at times, as high as trom $2,000 
to $3,000 a month. For instance, I would 
buy extra fjuantities of potatoes and onions, 
turnip?, cabbage, pickles, carrots. 

I have frequently asked my overseers li 
the prisDners complained of not having 
enough, and if they did, to give them more, 
and to let no man want, as 1 could af!brd to 
do from the savings. During all the timii I 
have been here, I have scarcely heard a 
complaint. No material change was made 
in the rations given to the prisoners till the 
first of this month, (June '64) ; since this 
date, the following has been the ration given 
the prisoners : 

The rations issued on the returns remain- 
ed the same as before. The amount fjiven 
was reduced to the following quantity, by 
order of the Secretary of War : 

"B." 

" RATION : 

"Pork or Bacon, . . 10 ozs. (in lieu of 

fresh beef.) 
. 14 " 
16 " 

14 " (in lieu of 

Flour or Soft Bread.) 

. 16 " (in lieu of 

Flour or Bread.) 

. 12i^ lbs. ' 



Fresh Beef, . . . 
Flour, or Soft Bread, 
Hard Bread, . . . 

Corn Meal, . . . 



Beans or Peas, . . 

or. Rice, or Hominy, . 8 " 

Soap, 4 " 

Vinegar, 3 qts 

Salt, 3J lbs. 

Potatoes, 15 '• 



. to 100 
I rations. 



J 



Sugar and coffee, or tea, will be issued only 
to the sick and wounded, on the recommen- 
dation of the surgeon in charge, at the rate 
of twelve (12) pounds of sugar, five (5) 
pounds of ground or seven (7) pounds of 
green coffee, or one (1) pound of tea, to the 
one hundred rations. This part of the ra- 
tion will be allowed only for every other 
day." 

The difference between the ration given 
and the ration issued continues to be sold, 
and the proceeds applied to the benefit of 
the prisoners, as before. The consequence 
is that the sirrplus fund for their use is larger. 

I refer to the circulars issued by the War 
Department, April 20th, 1864, and June 1st, 
1864, as containing the regulations under 



58 

which T am now acting, hereto appended, 
marked " A " and " B." 

The bread, as now issued, is made one- 
fifth of corn meal and four-fifths of flour. 
This change was made at the request of the 
prisoners. 1 use the same quality of bread. 
GILBERT S. CLARK, 

Captain and C. S. Vol. 

bwom to and subscribed before me, 
June 21st, 1S64. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

" A." 

"Office OF CoiniissARY-GENEKAL of Prisok- 
KRs, Washington, April 20, 1864. 
" [Circular.] 

" By authority of the War Department, 
the following Regulations will be observed 
at all stations where prisoners of war and 
political or State prisoners are held. The 
regulations wiU supersede those issued from 
this office July 7, 1861 : 

L The Commanding Officer at each sta- 
tion is held accountable for the discipline 
and good order of his command, and for the 
security of the prisoners, and will take such 
measures, with the means placed at his dis- 
posal, as will best secure these results. He 
will divide the prisoners into companies, and 
will cause written reports to be made to him 
of their condition every morning, showing 
the changes made during the preceding 
twenty-four hours, giving the names of the 
"joined," "transferred," "deaths," &c. 
At the end of every month Commanders 
will send to the Commissary-General of 
Prisoners a Return of Prisoners, giving 
names and details to explain " alterations." 
If rolls of " joined " or " transferred " 
have been forwarded during the month, it 
will be sufficient to refer to them on the re- 
turn according to Ibrms furnished. 

II. On the arrival of any prisoners at 
any station, a careful comparison of them 
with the rolls which accompany them will 
be made, and all errors on the rolls will be 
corrected. When no roll accompanies the 
prisoners, one will immediately be made out, 
containing all the information required, as 
carrect as can be, from the statements of 
prisoners themselves. When the prisoners, 
are citizens, the town, county and State 
from which they come will be given on the 
rolls under the headings — Rank, Regiment, 
and Company. At stations where prisoners 
are received frequently, and in small parties, 
a list will be furnished every fifth day — the 
last one in the month may be for six days — 
of all prisoners received during the preced- 
ing five days. Immediately on their arrival, 
prisoners will be required to give up all 
arms and weapons of every description, of 
wtich the Commanding Officer will require 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



an accurate list to be made. When pris- 
oners ar.? forwarded for exchange, duplicate 
parole rolls, signed by the prisoners, will be 
sent with them, and an ordinary roll will be 
sent to the Commissary-General of Prison- 
ers. When they are transferred from one 
station to another, an ordinary roll will be 
sent with them, and a copy of it to the Com- 
missary-General of Prisoners. In all cases, 
the officer charged with conducting prison- 
ers will report to the officer under whose 
orders he acts, the execution of his service, 
furnishing a receipt for the prisoners deliv- 
ered, and accounting by name for those not 
delivered ; which report will be forwarded, 
without delay, to the Commissary-General 
of Prisoners. 

III. The hospital will be under the im- 
mediate charge of the senior Medical Officer 
present, who will .be held responsible to the 
Commanding Officer for its good order and 
the proper treatment of the sick. A fund 
for this hospital will be created as for other 
hospitals. It will be kept separate from the 
fund of the hospital for the troops, and will 
be expended for the objects specified, and in 
the manner prescribed in paragraph 1212, 
Revised Regulations for the Army of 1863, 
except that the requisition of the Medical 
•Officer in charge, and the bill of purchase, 
before payment, shall be approved by the 
Commanding Officer. When this "fund" 
is sufficiently large, it may be expended 
also for shirts and drawers for the sick, the 
expense of washing clothes, articles for poli- 
cing purposes, and all articles and objects 
indispensably necessary to promote the sani- 
tary condition of the hospital. 

IV. Surgeons in charge of hospitals 
where there are prisoners of war will make 
to the Commissary- General of Prisoners, 
through the Commanding Officer, semi- 
monthly reports of deaths, giving names, 
rank, regiment, and company ; date and 
place of capture ; date and cause of death ; 
place of interment, and No. of grave. Ef- 
fects of deceased prisoners will be taken 
possession of by the Commanding Officer, 
the money and valuables to be reported to 
this office (see note on blank reports), the 
clothing of any value to be given to such 
prisoners as require it. Money left by de- 
ceased prisonei'S, or accruing from the sale 
of their effects, will be placed in the Prison 
Fund. 

^V. A fund to be called "The Prison 
Fund," and to be applied in procuring such 
articles as may be necessary for the health 
and convenience of the prisoners, not ex- 
pressly provided for by General Army Re- 
gulations, 1863, will be made by withholding 
from their rations such parts thereof as can 
be conveniently dispensed with. The Ab- 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



straet of Issues to Prisoners, and Statement 
of the Prison Fund, shall be made out, com- 
mencing with the mouth of May, 1864, in 
the same manner as is prescribed for the 
Abstract of Issues to Hospital and Statement 
of the Hospital Fund, (see paragraphs 1209, 
1215, and 1246, and Form 5, Subsistence 
Department, Army Regulatious, 1863), with 
such modifications in language as may be 
necessary. The ration for issue to prisoners 
will be composed as follows, viz. : 

Hard Bread, 14 oz. per one ration, 

or 18 oz.. Soft 
Bread, one ra- 
tion. 
Corn Meal, ' 18 oz. per one ration. 

Beef, 14 " " " 

Bacon or Pork, 10 " " " 

Beans, 6 qts. per 100 men. 

Hominy or Rice, 8 lbs. " " 

Sugar, 14 " " " 

R. Coffee, 5 lbs. ground, or 7 

lbs. raw^, per 100 
^ men. 

Tea, 18 oz. per 100 men. 

Soap, 4 " " 

Adamantine Candles, 5 candles per 100 

men. 
Tallow Candles, 6 " " " 

Salt, 2 qts. " 

Molasses, 1 qt. " " 

Potatoes, 30 lbs. " " 

When beans are issued, hominy or rice 
will not be. If at any time it should seem 
advisable to make any change in this scale, 
the circumstances will be reported to the 
Commissary-General of Prisoners for his con- 
sideration. 

VI. Disbursements to be charged against 
the Prison Fund will be made by the Com- 
missary of Subsistence, on the order of the 
Commanding Officer ; and all such expendi- 
tures of funds will be accounted for by the 
Commissary, in the manner prescribed for 
the disbursements of the Hospital Fund. 
When in any month the items of expendi- 
tures on account of the Prison Fund cannot 
be conveniently entered on the Abstract of 
Issues to Prisoners, a list of the articles and 
quantities purchased, prices paid, statement 
of services rendered, &c., certified by the 
Commissary as correct, and approved by the 
Commanding Officer, will accompany the 
Abstract. In such cases it will only be ne- 
cessary to enter on the Abstract of Issues the 
total amount of funds thus expended. 

VII. At the end of each calendar month, 
the Commanding Officer will transmit to the 
Commissary-General of Pi'isoners a copy of 
the " Statement of the Prison Fund," as 
shown in the Abstract of Issues for that 
month, with a copy of the list of expend!- 



59 



tures specified In preceding paragraph, ac- 
companied by vouchers, and will endorse 
thereon, or convey in letter of transmittal, 
such remarks as the matter may seem to re- 
quire. 

VIII. The Prison Fund is a credit with 
the Subsistence Department, and at the re- 
quest of the Commissary-General of Prison- 
ers, may be transferred by the Commissary- 
General of Subsistence in manner prescribed 
by existing Regulations for the transfer of 
Hospital Fund. 

IX. With the Prison Fund may be pur- 
chased such articles not provided for by re- 
gulations as may be necessary for the health 
and proper condition of the prisoners, such 
as table furniture, cooking utensils, articles 
for policing, straw, the means for improving 
or enlai'ging the barracks or hospitals, &c. 
It will also be used to pay clerks, and other 
employees engaged in labors connected with 
prisoners. No barracks or other structures 
will be erected or enlarged, and no altera- 
tions made, without first submitting a plan 
and estimate of the cost to the Commissary- 
General of Prisoners, to be laid before the 
Secretary of War for his approval ; and in 
no case will the services of clerks or of other 
employees be paid for without the sanction 
of the Commissary-General of Prisoners. 
Soldiers emploj^ed with such sanction will 
be allowed 40 cents per day when employed 
as clerks, stewards, or mechanics ; 25 cents 
a day when employed as laborers. 

X. It is made the duty of the Quarter- 
master, or, when there is none, the Commis- 
sary, under the orders of the Commanding 
Officer, to procure all articles required for 
the prisoners, and to hire clerks or other em- 
ployees. Ail bills for service, or for articles 
purchased, will be certified by the Quarter- 
master, and will be paid by the Commissary 
on the order of the Commanding Officer, 
who is held responsible that all expenditures 
are for authorized purposes. 

XI. The Quai'termaster will be held ac- 
countable for all property purchased with 
the Prison Fund, and he will make a return 
of it to the Commissary-General of Prisoners 
at the end of each calendar month, which 
will show the articles on hand on the first 
day of the month ; the articles purchased, 
issued and expended during the month ; and 
the articles remaining on hand. The return 
will be supported by abstracts of the articles 
purchased, issued, and expended, certified 
by the Quartermaster, and approved by the 
Commanding Officer. 

XII. The Commanding Officer will cause 
requisitions to be made by his Quartermas- 
ter for such clothing as may be absolutely 
necessary for the prisoners, which requisition 
will be approved by him, after a careful in- 



60 

quiry as to the necessity, and submitted for 
the approval of the Commissary-General of 
Prisoners. Tiie clothing will be issued by 
the Quartermaster to the prisoners, with the 
assistance and under the supervision of an 
officer detailed for the purpose, whose cer- 
tificate that the Issue has been made in his 
presence will be the Quartermaster's voucher 
for the clothing issued. From the 30th of 
April to the 1st of October, neither drawers 
nor socks will be allowed, except to the sick. 
When army clothing is issued, buttons and 
trimmings will be taken oif the coats, and 
the skirts will be cut so short that the pri- 
soners who wear them will not be mistaken 
for United States soldiers. 

XIII. The Sutler for the prisoners Is 
entirely under the control of the Command- 
ing Officer, who will ref^ulre him to furnish 
the prescribed articles, and at reasonable 
rates. For this privilege the Sutler will be 
taxed a small amount by the Commanding 
Officer, according to the amount of his trade, 
which tax will be placed in the hands of the 
Commissary to make part of the Prison 
Fund. 

XIV. All money In possession of prison- 
ers, or received by them, will be taken 
charge of by the Commanding Officer, who 
will give receipts for It to those to whom it 
belongs. Sales will be made to prisoners 
by the Sutler on orders on the Commanding 
Officer, which orders will be kept as vouch- 
ers in the settlement of the iiidividual 
accounts. The Commanding Officer will 
procure proper books In which to keep an 
account of all moneys deposited in his hands, 
these accounts to be always subject to in- 
spection by the Commissary-General of 
Prisoners, or other inspecting officer. When 
prisoners are transferred from the post, the 
moneys belonging to them, with a statement 
of the amount due each, will be sent with 
them, to be turned over by the officer in 
charge to the officer to whom the prisoners 
are delivered, who will give receipts for the 
money. When prisoners are paroled, their 
money will be returned to them. 

XV. All articles sent by friends to prison- 
ers, if proper to be delivered, will be care- 
fully distiibuted as the donors may request; 
such as ai-e Intended for the sick passing 
through the hands of the Surgeon, who will 
be responsible tor their proper use. Contri- 
butions must be received by an officer, who 
will be held responsible that they are deliv- 
ered to the person for whom they are in- 
tended. All uniform, clothing, boots, or 
equipments of any kind for military service, 
weapons of all kinds, and intoxicating li- 
quors, including malt liquors, are among the 
contraband articles. The material for outer 
clothing should be gray, or some daik mixed 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



color, and of inferior quality. Any excess 
of clothing, over what is required for imme- 
diate use, is contraband. 

XVI. When prisoners are seriously 111, 
their nearest relatives, being loyal, may be 
permitted to make them short visits; but' 
under no other circumstances will visitors 
be admitted without the authority of the 
Commissary-General of Prisoners. At those 
places where the guard is inside the enclo- 
sure, persons having official business to trans- 
act with the Commander or other officer 
will be admitted for such purposes, but will 
not be allowed to have any communication 
with the prisoners. 

XVII. Prisoners will be permitted to 
write and to receive letters, not to exceed 
one page of common letter paper each, pro- 
vided the matter Is strictly of a private na- 
ture. Such letters must be examined by a 
reliable non-commissioned officer, appointed 
for that purpose by the Commanding Officer, 
before they are forwarded or delivered to 
the prisoners. 

XV^III. Prisoners who have been reported 
to the Commissary-General of Prisoners will 
not be paroled or released except by authori- 
ty of the Secretary of War. 

W. HOFFMAN, 

Col. 3d Infantry, Commissary-General of Prisoners. 

Official; 

W. T. Haut, 

Assistuut Adjutant General. 

S. R. Craige sworn and examined : — 

I have been Quartermaster here since 
August, 1863. The amount of clothing Is- 
sued to the prisoners from September 1st, 
1863, to May 1st, 1864, by the Quarter- 
master's Department, will appear from the 
following statement prepared by me ft-om 
the books : 

Quartermaster's Office, Fort Delaware, 
June 21st, 1804. 

Capt. S. R. Craige, 

A. Q. M. Volunteers. 

Statement of Clothing issued to Prisoners 
of War, from Sept. Ist", 1863, to May 1st, 
1864: 

7175 Pairs Drawers (Canton flannel). 

6260 Shirts (Flannel). 

8807 Pairs Woolen Stockings. 

1094 Jackets and Coats. 

3840 Pairs Bootees. 

1310 Pairs Trowsers. 

4378 Woolen Blankets. 

2680 Great Coats. 

The principal part of the clothing was is- 
sued In October and November, 1863, and 
every prisoner not having an overcoat and 
blanket of his own was provided with one. 

AH that were in want of clothing received 
it. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



61 



The barracks were kept comfortable by 
stoves; no stint in fuel that I know of ; the 
attendants kept the fires up. Three hun- 
dred tons of coal provided by me, were con- 
sumed by the prisoners in the wniter and 
spring. This, in addition to wood used lor 
bak;n<-, and to the coal supplied by bapt. 
Clarkf I am satisfied the prisoners were as 
comfortable as could be. . ,„^ 

S. R. CRAIGE, 

Captain and A. Q. M. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June '^ 1st, 18G4. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Captain G. S. Clarke, recalled: — 

I have purchased and used for the prison- 
ers about one thousand tons of coal durin^ 
the winter. I would say, in my judgment, 
that the barracks were sufficiently warm 
during the season requiring fires. 1 was 
J^nartermaster here, as well as Commissary, 
until Captain Craige assumed the Quarter- 
master's Department. 

The desitute prisoners were supplied with 
sufficient clothing during the time I acted as 

Quartermaster. ^x a-ot- 

GILBERT S. CLARK. 

Attest : _ ^ 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Captain George W. Ahl, sworn and exam- 
ined : — 
My rank is Captain; Acting Assistant 
Adjutant-General for six months, and 
Commissary of Prisoners for about a year 

and a half. 

Q. Can you state whether the rations is- 
sued to prisoners at this post were actually 
given them in full ? 

A. To the best of my knowledge and be- 
lief they were. ^ • . r 

Q Were the rations issued sufficient tor 
their subsistence? had they at any time 
saved any rations, and was there any waste 
,of their rations at any time ? 
' A. The rations issued to them were at all 
times -sufficient for their subsistence ; and 



August 1863, 8,822 prisoners, of whom 169 died. 



327 
377 
156 
82 
78 
42 
62 
74 
62 
42 



September, 1863, 6,490 
October, 1863,2,987 
November, 1863, 2,822 
December, 1863,2,765 
Tanunry, 1864,2,600 
February, 1864,2,655 
March, 1&64, 5,712 
April, 1864,6,149 

Mav, 1864, 8,126 

To "June 21, 1864,8,536 

The <Treater mortality during the summer 
and falf months of 1863, was attributable 
to the following causes: Small-pox ; the 
majority of the prisoners not having been 
vaccinated before they came here, and those 
who were vaccinated had been vaccinated 
with impure matter ; at all events, the vac- 
cination resulted in breaking out over their 
body in sores ; and from the prostrated con- 
dition of the prisoners from Vicksburg, a 
<Treat many of whom had to be earned, on 
their arrival here, from the boat to the hos- 
pital, and many of whom represented that 
they had been limited to half and quartei 
rations of an inferior quality dunng thi 
sieae of Vicksburg. Many died also frou 
wounds received in different engagements 
Many, when brought here, were suffering 
from chronio diarrhoea and other diseases 
The general effect of our treatment ot the 
prisoners at this post has resulted in great 
benefit to their physical condition. In ref- 
erence to vaccination, being desirous of ob- 
taining the true cause of its bad effects o.n 
their s'ystem, I inquired of them (the pris- 
oners) the cause of it ; they stated that they 
had been vaccinated by their own men with 
impure matter. 

GEORGE W. AHL, 

Captain and A. A. A. G. and 

Commissary of Pri.soners, 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 21st, 1SC4. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

U. S. Commissioner. 
Lieutenant A. G. Wolf, sworn and exam- 
lam r Lieutenant in charge of prisoners 
at Fort Delaware; have been here since 
23d September, 1862; have had charge of 



f mes -sufiicient tor tneir suubibLt;iiLc , »"« ^^^ ^^^..^ -, - _, 

ometimes Neatly in excess of what they , the prisoners about eight month 
sometimes .-'^'^'-'J: .* ^, „.,__,, ^„^_. The order is that the men sh 



could eat. In policing their barracks some- 
time afro we tore up the lower bunk boards, 
under "which we found about eight (8) bar- 
rels of hard bread and meat, which they 
had secreted there, because there was more 
than they could eat. At that time we had 
only about three thousand prisoners here. 

According to official monthly reports 
made to the' Commissary-General of prison- 
ers, there were at this post in July, 1863, 
8,982 prisoners, of whom 111 died during 
the month. 



The order is that the men shall be sent 
out every day for air. The barracks are 
then entirely cleansed out. At one time we 
turned the prisoners out, and found enough 
of crackers to have paved the barracks two 
crackers deep, and they are an average of 
five hundred feet. They had stowed and 
concealed them away in various places. As 
a general thing, when the barracks were 
cleaned out, there were always a number of 
rations, bread and meat, found stowed away. 
We have always found a quantity of blaa 



62 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



kets and clothing stowed away under the 
floor during the winter season. We have 
allowed men two blankets apiece, and when 
they were delicate, three blankets and an 
overcoat. 

They are allowed to bathe in the river 
twice a week. We have to take a guard to 
get some of them to go out to bathe. We 
issue a regular prisoner's ration of soap ; 
we have found as much as ten pounds secret- 
ed in their haversacks. 

They had five stoves within five hundred 
feet during winter, and were warm enough 
in their barracks. 

There has never been an order to fire at 
any man looking out the windows, and no 
man has ever been fired at for looking out ; 
there have been five men shot ; three killed 
and two wounded here, since this has been 
a prison. One killed while in the river 
making his escape, about one hundred yards 
from the shore, at night ; one killed for at- 
tempting to climb over the fence towards 
the river ; one man was wounded — he died 
since — for committing a nuisance on the 
bank contrary to rule, and was ordered by 
the sentry to stop. He called the sentry 
" a Yankee son of a bitch," and would not 
stop. The ball wounded two men. The 
other one said that he deserved all he got. 
Another was killed accidentally, by the sen- 
try shooting at one who was committing a 
nuisance, and who would not obey the order. 
These orders are to prevent nuisances occur- 
ring in the barracks, which would be destruc- 
tive of health and cleanliness. Even with 
these rules, nuisances are not unfrequently 
committed. 

Special orders No. 157 are the same as 
those I refer to, and are as follow : 

SPECIAL ORDER No. 157. 

Headquvrters, Fort Delaware, 
June 1, 1864. 

The officer of the Guard must read and 
explain these orders to each relief of his 
Guard regularly before having it posted. 

I. No sentinel must communicate with 
npr allow any person to communicate with 
any of the prisoners, nor permit any of the 
prisoners to go outside of the limits of their 
barracks, without the permission of the 
Commanding General or the officers in 
charge of the prisoners. 

II. It is the duty of the sentinel to pre- 
vent the prisoners from escapiny, or cutting^ 
defaciuff, or in any way damaging any of the 
Government property, or from commiltinrj any 
" Nuisance " in or about their barracks, or 
from using any abusive or insolent lan- 
guage towards them, and from any viola- 
tion of good order. 



Should the sentinel detect any prisoner 
in violating these instructions, he must order 
him three distinct times to halt ! and if the 
prisoner obeys the order, the sentinel must 
call for the Corporal of the Guard, and 
have the prisoner placed in arrest — but 
should the prisoner fail to halt, when so or- 
dered, the sentinel must enforce his order by 
bayonet or ball. 

III. The sentinels are required to exer- 
cise the utmost vigilance, and to exact from 
prisoners a strict compliance with these in- 
structions, and must always be duly impressed 
with the nature and extent of their respon- 
sibility. 

By command of Brig. Gen'l Schoepf. 
(Signed) GEO. W. AHL, 

Captaiu aud A. A. A. G. 

They exist in all prisons. 

A. G. WOLF, 

■ Lieutenant and Commissary of Prisoners. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 

June 21st, 1S64. ■» 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner, 

Surgeon H. R. Silliman, sworn and exam- 
ined : — 

I have been in charge here as Surgeon-in- 
Charge of the books since July, 18G3. The 
condition of the prisoners, upon arriving here, 
was that generally of men suffering from 
over-exertion and bad diet; chronic diar- 
rhoea and scurvy prevalent among them ; 
they improved very materially shortly after 
their arrival here. 

The sanitary conditions here were such as 
to be conducive to their health. Prisoners 
who arrived here from Vicksburg and the 
Mississippi Valley were laboring under luias- 
metic influences, under which a great num- 
ber of them died. From their condition, I 
should judge they had been on a diet of salt 
meat. Some of the men arrived here in a 
good condition of health. The men from 
Gettysburg were generally in good health, 
though they soon broke down, showing the 
efiect of their violent exertions ; they rallied 
again under good food and good clothing. 
The condition of the men brought here with- 
in the last few months, captured in Virginia, 
has been better than that of those brought 
here heretofore. A large number of the men 
had never been vaccinated, and many others 
imperfectly so. The scars :vvere imperfect, 
in my jfidgment. They vaccinated them- 
selves in the barracks with pen-knives, after 
their arrival here, producing diseases of the 
blood and skin. In my experience, the pro- 
portion of the unvaccinated men, among the 
prisoners, is far greater than in our own 
army, for I have never known of an unvac- 
cinated man in our arm v. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



I consider the amount of food and clothing 
allowed to prisoners here, during the past 
winter, reasonably sufficient for the preserva- 
tion of life and health. 

I don't know of any man who has suffered 
from a want of food or clothing, and unable 
to procure them, on proper representations. 

I do know of one man who was brought 
into the hospital last winter, during a severe 
spell, severely frost-bitten. I don't know 
how this occurred. This is the only instance 
that has come to my knowledge. 
. The men sent away from here were some- 
times sick and sometimes well ; they were in 
general well ; and the physical condition of 
the well men was good. The sick were sent 
away under special orders, going as sick. 

The order was from Surgeon-General 
Hammond ; it was not an order to send away 
any who could not bear the journey ; it was 
left to my discretion who to send away, and 
I sent none who I believed would die on the 
passage ; I was careful about that. 

I think the treatment of the sick prisoners 
here is equal to the treatment of our own 
sick men anywhere; 

I expend as much as $1,700 per month, 
saved from the surplus rations, on delicacies 
for the sick. 

H. Ft. SILLIMAN, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A, 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 21st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Lieutenant A. G. WOlp, recalled: — 

I am acquainted with the case of frost- 
bite spoken of by Dr. SilJiman. The pris- 
oners reported to me that ihe man was taken 
with cramps in the barracks ; they exposed 
his person and rubbed him to ease the pain, 
and found that they could do no good, and 
ih»n brought him to the hospital in that con- 
dition of exposure. I attributed the frost-bite 
to these circumstances. 

A. G. WOLF, 
Lieutenant and Commanding Prison 

Attest, 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Surgeon Colin Arrott, sworn and exam- 
ined : —■ 
I am acting assistant-surgeon at this place ; 
have been here over two years. When I 
first came here the water used for drinking 
was rairi water ; and after I came here the 
water was brought from the Brandywine, in 
casks by sloops. I cautioned all the pris- 
oners that came here against drinking the 
water of the Island, as it was unhealthy. 
They would frequently persist in doing it, 
although there was fresh ivater provided for 



63 



them. They did this to save themselves 
from the trouble of going about a hundred 
yards for fresh water. They would dig little 
wells for the water, a few inches deep ; I 
think that water produced sickness, though 1 
frequently cautioned them, and at different 
times. This was two years ago. 

For a year the water has been brought 
here in largo quantities by boats. There are 
30,000 gallons of water broiight here now a 
day, besides what rain water is caught. 
There is now, and always has been, as far as 
I know, a full supply of water on the Is- 
land. 

COLIN ARROTT, 

Acting Assistant Surgeon. 

Sworn to and subscribeil before me, 
June 21st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

I certify that the foregoing testimony, ta- 
ken at Fort Delaware, June 21st, 1864, was 
taken and reduced to Avriting by me, in the 
presence of the respective witnesses, and by 
them sworn to and subscribed in mv pres- 
ence, at the time and in the manner set 
forth. 

D. P. BROWN, JR., 

U. S. Commissioner. 



DAVID'S ISLAND, N. Y. 

Testimony taken at De Camp General Hos- 
pital, U. S. A., David's Island, June 16th, 
1864. 

Commissioner Present. — Mr. Wilkins. 

Deposition of Augustus Van Cortlandt, Act- 
ing Assistant Surgeon U. S. A. 

I was on duty in this hospital when the 
last load of rebel prisoners arrived, during 
the latter part of July, 1863. Some were 
lodged in pavilions, and some in tents, which 
were in excellent order. 

The prisoners had not been robbed or de- 
prived of any. of their private property, so 
far as my knowledge extends ; on the con- 
trary, the majority of patients under my 
charge possessed money, brought with them 
from the South to the hospital, and were 
never deprived of it. 

They came in a filthy, horrible condition. 
Their dirty garments were removed and 
burned, and new hospital clothing furnished 
them at the expense of the United States 
Government, after they had been thoroughly 
cleansed and washed. 

Their physical condition was bad in the 
extreme when they arrived ; they were run 
down, and were the worst body of wounded 
men it has ever been my lot to see. 

I had ten tents under my charge, which 
contained ninety-four rebel patients and 



64 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



nurses. The tents were twenty-eight by fif- 
teen feet. The pavilions were one hundred 
and ninety-six feet in length, twenty-three 
feet in breadth, and twelve feet in height to 
the plate, and contained not more than eigh- 
ty patients. 

During the ensuing cold weather the pris- 
oners were removed to the pavilions, and 
had all necessary fuel and warm clothing. I 
have never heard of any of the prisoners suf- 
fering from cold or exposure, so as to require 
medical treatment, nor of any having been 
frozen to death. 

They were allowed, for exercise and rec- 
reation, the whole island inside of the line 
of sentries, having the same liberty, rations, 
diet and medical treatment, as the Federal 
sick and wounded have always had. 

No rebel prisoners were ever fired upon, 
shot, or wounded, when on the Island, from 
any apprehension of their escajjing, or from 
any other cause. 

The supply of drinking water was of a 
good quality and abundant ; and ice was 
supplied with liberal profusion, and sufficien- 
cy of water for washing, with plentiful allow- 
ances of soap, as well as combs, for their own 
private use. 

The physical condition of the rebel prison- 
ers, upon leaving the island, was very good, 
except a few cases of unhealed wounds. 

AUG. VAN CORTLANDT, M. D. 

Sworn to before me, 

Warren "Webster, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., in cliarge of Hospital. 

Deposition of George W. Edwards, Act- 
ing Assistant Surgeon U. S. A. 

I was stationed at this hospital when the 
rebel prisonei-s arrived, about the middle of 
Jul}-, 18G3. They were placed in tents and 
pavilions, which had just been vacated by 
Union soldiers to make room ^or them. The 
dimension of the tents were twenty-eight feet 
by fifteen feet ; the pavilions were one hun- 
dred and ninety-six feet in length, twenty- 
three feet in breadth, and twelve feet in 
height to the plate ; not sealed over, and 
wilh numerous ventilators on the ridges. 
The tents were arranged to contain ten j)a- 
tients each, the pavilions to contain eighty ; 
the number of patients never exceeded these 
numbers in either. 

The prisoners had not been robbed by our 
men, as most of them had money, some had 
gold, greenbacks, and Confederate paper. 

They were in rags, barefooted and bare- 
headed when they came, were frightfully 
filthy, and covered with vermin. Within 
three or four houre after their arrival, they 
had all been stripped of their rags, washed, 
and after being supplied with clean linen, 
placed in clean and well-aired beds. 



Full suits of clothing, consisting of coats, 
pants, drawers, shirts, shoes and stockings, 
were subsequently issued to them by the 
United States Quartermaster. To distin- 
guish them from our own soldiers, the buttons 
and six inches of the skirt of the coat were 
cut off. 

Those who remained during the cold 
weather were abundantly supplied with fuel 
and warm clothing, and none required med- 
ical or surgical treatment in consequence 
of exposure to the cold ; none were frozen to 
death. 

They were allowed to go fishing or clam- 
ming, as they pleased, when they first camt:, 
till several escaped, when a line of sentinels 
was placed around the island upon the 
beach, inside of which they enjoyed all the 
privileges allowed to the Federal patients in 
the hospital. 

None of the rebels were ever shot at, 
wounded or killed in any way while upon 
the island. 

They receive medical and surgical treat- 
ment in all respects equal to that of Union 
soldiers. Nine-tenths of them were suffering 
from wounds. The mortality was not large, 
most of the deaths occurring from the severity 
of the wounds. They received the same ra- 
tions and diet as our own patients. 

The ])aper hereto attached, marked (A,)* 
formetl the Diet Table during the time which 
the rebel prisoners were on the island. They 
had an abundance of good drinking water, 
with ice, an unlimited supply for bathing, 
plenty of soap, towels, combs, &c., &c., lor 
their own comfort and cleanliness. 

When the prisoners were removed, they 
were in excellent bodily condition, though 
many had not entirely recovered from their 
wounds; the majority of the prisoners left 
the island during the month of October, 
1863. At one time there were about two 
thousand five hundred rebel prisoners upon 
the island. 

I have been upon the medical staff of this 
hospital since its opening, in May, 18()2, and 
it has been occupied by Union patients, both 
pj'ior and subsequent to its oceupation by 
rebel prisoners. G. W. EDWARDS. 

Sworn to before me, 

War KEN Webster, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., in charge of Hospital. 

De Camp General Hospitai>, 
David's Island, New York, 

June 17th, 3 864. 
We, the undersigned. Acting Assistant 
Surgeons U. S. A., employed in De Camp 
General Hospital, depose and say, that we 

* The paper (A) here referred to, is the "Dset 
Tablk fokGenekal, Hospitals, United Sta tl? 
Akmy." 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



65 



have heard read the depositions of Augustus 
Van Cortlandt and George W. Edwards, 
Acting Assistant Surgeons U. S. A., of this 
date, and from our personal knowledge and 
actual experience confirm all that the said 
affidavits set forth as to the treatment of re- 
bels, sick and wounded, during their confine- 
ment in this hospital. 

We further depose that we have been 
members of the Medical Staff in this hospital, 
during and subsequent to its occupation by 
the rebel prisoners. 

The Medical Staff numbered twenty-three 
Acting Assistant Surgeons, while the pris- 
oners were on the island. 

We would further depose that there were 
ample provisions of nurtes ; one nurse to 
every ten patients in the hospitals ; and that 
the following provisions were made for the 
calls of nature : each pavilion was furnished 
with from two to four water-closets, and 
chairs and bed-pans were furnished for pa- 
tients unable to reach the water-closet. The 
tents were furnislied with bed-pans and 
chairs. Ample structures were made upon 
the beach for those able to walk. 

John Howe, M. D., Acting Assistant 
Surgeon, U. S. A., further deposes and says, 
that on or about the first day of August 
18G3, while attending his duties in Pavilion 
14, there was then and there present, the 

Rev. Brooks, Alabama Chaplain in the 

Confederate service, and prisoner of war, 
who addressed the rebel prisoners and said 
to them, " Well, boys, keep up your spirits, 
for you are getting a great deal better treat- 
ment here than you would get at home." 
JOHN HOWE, M. D., 

Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A. 

WILLIAM BADGER, 
GEORGE BADGER, 
A. N. BROCKWAY, 
WM. C. FRYER. 

Sworn to before me, 

Warren Webster, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., in charge of Hospital. 

Deposition -of the Rev. Robert Lowry, 
C!haplin, U. S. A., Minister of Protestant 
Episcopal Church, Diocese of New York, 
under Bishop Potter. 
Entered ui>on ray duties here July 4, 1862, 
and have continued here until this time. 

In my intercourse with the prisoners, I 
was guided systematically by the same rules 
with which I visited Union soldiers. The 
prisoners were equally well lodged with our 
own men. I remarked at the time of their 
arrival how neat and comfortable a provision 
had been made in the tents and pavilions for 
their comfort, with an ample supply of beds 
and bedding. 

I met the first transport at Philadelphia, 

THIRD SERIES. LIVING AGE. VOL. XXVII. 



and returned on the same with them to Dat 
vid's Island. The prisoners were in a mos- 
filthy condition, miserably clad, and covered 
with vermin. Each man received a bath 
and was immediately furnished with clean 
clothing, the old clothing being removed and 
burned. In the prosecution of my duties I 
was frequently present at their dinners, which 
were ample, superior, both as respects quan- 
tity and quality, to anything I have ever seen 
in hospital diet. The diet furnished to them 
was superior even to that of our own patients. 
This resulted from the fact that many little 
luxuries were furnished by private donation. 
There were other comforts and conveniences 
afforded them beyond those o£ food, clothing, 
and shelter. 

A library of two thousand volumes, that 
had been previously used by our own sol- 
diers, was at once thrown open to them, and 
every facility afforded for the use of the vol- 
umes. Being present as librarian, and tak- 
ing each man's name as he received his lx)ok, 
the library was used by them far more than 
by our own people. As had been my ])rac- 
tice, I went through the tents and pavilions 
with bibles and prayer books, making the 
special inquiry to every man, " Are you sup- 
plied V" And furnishing books in all cases 
where they were required. 

Religious services were held in the chapel 
twice every Sunday, and two or three times 
during the week, at wliich they were invited 
to be present, and attended in such numbers 
that the chapel was always crowded, the ca- 
pacity of the chapel being three hundred, 
and some occasions numbers stood at the win- 
dows during the entire service. 

I was supervisor of the post office, and offi- 
cially appointed to examine the contents of 
letters, which were mailed and forwarded on 
my approval. Paper and envelopes were 
furnished gratuitously, and post stamps, when 
needed, were supplied to the extent of one 
hundred and fifty dollars, to my knowledge, 
gratuitously. From three to five hundred 
letters were forwarded daily after the first 
arrival of prisoners. 

The common expression in their letters as 
to their condition was that " we have every- 
thing we need, and could not be better off." 
Funeral service was always performed 
over the dead, using the service of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church over the remains of 
the dead. A i-ecord was uniformly made of 
the names, company, and regiment, of the 
deceased, and date of death. This record 
was made iudependentlv of a formal Hospi- 
ROBERT LOWRY, 



tal register. 



Cliaplain U. S. A. 



Sworn to before me, 

Warren AVebster, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., in cliarge. 
1264. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



66 

JOHNSON'S ISLAND, NEAR SAN- 
DUSKY, OHIO. 

Testimony taken at Washington, D. C, June 
3, 1864. 

Commissioners Present. — Mr.WIlkins, 
Dr. Wallace, Dr. Walden. 

Surgeon Chas. P. Wilson, examined: — 

I was Acting Assistant Surgeon, United 
States Army. I was stationed at Johnson's 
Island, three miles from Sandusky, from the 
last week of October, 18G3, to the last week 
of January, 1864. My duty was to attend 
to our men guarding the rebel prisoners, and 
also to attend at the Small-pox Hospital for 
rebel prisoners, and at the Post Hospital for 
our garrison ; my position enabled me to see 
the general condition and the general treat- 
ment of the prisoners. 

There could not be a more healthy or 
pleasant place than this island. Kelly's 
Island, a popular place of resort for pleasure 
and health, is about six miles from this island, 
and no better for these objects. 

The buildings were good ; in good order ; 
they were new ; say two years old ; conven- 
ient and comfortable ; they might have been 
better ventilated ; the buildings were frame, 
and lined inside ; they had rows of bunks, 
as in barracks, in three tiers — just the same 
as our men have in most of our barrf^cks. 

The rebel prisoners all had blankets, either 
their own or furnished by the United States 
Government, and were generally furnished 
with clothing by the United States Govern- 
ment — pants, shoes, hats, blouses, and under- 
clothing and stockings, — until a short time 
before I left, then these were furnished to 
those only who actually needed them. 

I have several times seen of an afternoon 
boxes carted in, and these articles distributed 
from the boxes among the prisoners, accord- 
ing to their wants. 

I was there in extremely cold, weather, 
when the supplies were teamed on the ice 
from the main land to Johnson's Island, a 
distance of three miles ; the prisoners were 
provided against this severe weather by wood 
hauled every day for their use in stoves. 

I consider that the wood was sufficient for 
comfortable supply, except for, say two or 
possibly three days, when the teams were 
engaged in bringing lumber and provisions 
for jidditional troops ; during these two or 
three days the supply of wood was scant, and 
was the subject of complaint. 

No prisoners were frost-bitten or came un- 
der medical treatment from cold and expos- 
ure, except some who attempted to escape. 
They all fared as well in this respect as our 
men do in barracks generally. 

The sick men all bad ticks filled with 



straw as beds ; the hospital building for the 
rebels was lined and plastered. 

There was abundant supply of good water 
from the lake by pipes and pumps ; when the 
pipes froze they could go to the lake, under 
guard, and supply themselves, bringing it up 
in suitable vessels ; they always had plenty 
of water to wash themselves and their 
clothes. 

The rations of the prisoners were the same 
as those furnished to our own soldiers accord- 
ing to regulations. 

The prisoners did not consiime all their ra- 
tions, for I know that there was a large pris- 
on fund formed from the savings. 

During the hours of the day the prisoners 
were allowed to be in the open air as much 
as they pleased ; there was abundant room 
for them all to take as much exercise as they 
required for health ; they played games in 
the open air. 

The surgeon in charge treated the sick 
rebels as he treated our sick ; there was no 
difference at all, except when special articles 
of diet were sent to our men by their friends. 

Some four hundred and sixty rebel pri- 
vates were sent to some other prison in No- 
vember ; most of them had been on John- 
son's Island for some months ; when they 
left, taking them as a whole, their physical 
condition was excellent. 

You could not have found the same num- 
ber of prisoners anywhere in better condi- 
tion. 

C. P. WILSON, 

Surgeon 13Sth Kegimcnt O. N. G- 

Sworn and subscribed before 
me, at Washington, D. 
C, tliis 3d day of June, 
1804, 

M. H. N. Kendig, 

Notary Public. 

Depositions taken at Sandusky, Ohio. 

Major T. Woodbeidge, M. D., Surgeon 

in charge, sworn and examined: - 

Q. What has been and is now your posi- 
tion In the army of the United States ? 

A. I am Surgeon of the 12Stli Regiment 
O. V. I., and Surgeon in charge of the De- 
pot for Prisoners of War on Johnson's Is- 
land, near Sandusky, Ohio. 

Q. How long have you held this position ? 

A. Since the establishment of the prison. 
I came to the island in February, 1862. The 
first prisoners came in April, 1862. I have 
had medical supervision of the prison from 
then until now. 

Q. What is your opinion of Johnson's 
Island as to health and salubrity ? 

A. I believe Johnson's Island to be as 
favorable to health as the climate of New- 
port or Saratoga in summer, and as that of 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



67 



Cincinnati or Dayton in winter. The lati- 
tude is about 4U° North, longitude 82° 42' 
West. Height of lake above tide-water five 
hundred and sixty-five feet. The island 
rests upon a bed of Devonian limestone, 
which rises gradually from the shore to the 
centre, terminating in a ridge of limestone 
rock, thus affording complete natural drain- 
age. The water used is principally that of 
the bay, which comes in fresh constantly 
from Lake Erie. 

Q. What diseases, if any, are peculiar to 
Johnston's Island or the neighboring islands 
in Lake Erie ? 

A. I know of no diseases peculiar to those 
islands or prevalent in them. Johnson's 
Island is a small one, containing only about 
three hundred acres of land, and previous to 
the establishment of the prison, if I am cor- 
rectly informed, was not inhabited by more 
than one family at a time ; but the Peninsu- 
la, with Kelley's Island and the Put-in-Bay 
Islands, have been inhabited for between 
thirty and forty years. I have conversed 
frequently with some of the oldest citizens 
of the peninsula and the islands, but have 
never heard them speak of any liability to 
diseases, but such as is common to other parts 
of Ohio. 

Q. Is there any truth in the assertion 
made by rebel authorities that residence on 
the island for a few months produces in a 
great number of prisoners dangerous and 
fatal pulmonary disorders ? 

A. Not the slightest. 

Q. What has been the rate of mortality 
among the prisoners ? 

A. In 18G2 — from April to December in- 
clusive — the number of deaths was thirty- 
seven. During the year 1863 measles and 
smallpox Avere brought into the prison by 
prisoners sent from Alton and other prisons, 
and many wounded at the battles of Gettys- 
burg, augmenting our mortality list above 
what it would otherwise have reached. The 
number of deaths for 1863 was ninety-seven. 
This makes, from the time of the first arrival 
of prisoners in April, 1862, to January 1st, 
1864, (tweftty-one months,) a mortality list 
of one hundred and thirty-four, out of an 
aggregate of six thousand four hundred and 
ten, received into the prison in that time. 
As there were exchanges and removals of 
prisoners, the number in prison never ex- 
ceeded twenty-seven hundred at any one 
time.* Many of the prisoners came here 
with health impaired, by bad diet, exposure, 
and often by wounds received in battle. I 
The bill of mortality owes little to the cli- 
mate of the post, when jwe consider that men ] 

* In May, 1804, there were two thousand one hun- 
* The average number of prisoners for the entire dred and thirty-four, and in June, 1801, two thou' 
of the year 1863 was eleven hundned and fifteen. | sand three hundred and nine. 



in prison, away from home and friends, are 
weighed down by anxieties and despondency, 
thus making the treatment of disease more 
difficult. 

Q. Please state the number of prisoners 
now at the post ? 

A. About two thousand three hundred 
and six.* 

Q. Please state the number of deaths dur- 
ing the past two months. 

A: In the month of May there were five 
deaths ; in the month of June only one. 

Q. What accommodations arc provided for 
the care of the sick ? 

A. The hospital building is one hundred 
and twenty-six by thirty feet, with a trans- 
verse hall six and a half feet wide in the 
centre. There are four wards, each fortj'- 
eight by thirty feet. There are eighty beds 
in all, giving to each patient, when the 
wards are full, seven hundred and twenty 
cubic feet of atmospheric air. The dispen- 
sary is furnished with all the medicines and 
stimulants furnished to hospitals for our own 
soldiers, and more than double the quantity 
is used by prisoners than by the same num- 
ber of our troops. I have always had the 
assistance of competent Confederate sur- 
geons, who cheerfully aid by g\ving their 
time to this duty. When there are no com- 
missioned surgeons in prison, there are 'sur- 
geons holding commissions in the line who 
do this duty. The cooking for the hospital 
is done by the most experienced and skilful 
cooks we can find in the prison. 

In addition to rations, the sick are fur- 
nished with flour, potatoes, corn-meal, milk, 
butter, eggs, chickens, t^a, &c.. &c. Tlie 
bedding is amply sufficient to malic each pa- 
tient comfortable. A pest-house is built 
outside the prison, to which all cases of 
smallpox, measles, or other contagions, are 
removed on first development. 

J. WOODBRIDGE, 

Surgeon 128th O. V. I. 

Subscribed in my presence 
and sworn to before 
me at Sandusky, Ohio, 
this 5th day of July, 
1804. 

[seal.] Henry C. Bush, 

Notary Public in and for Erie County, Ohio. 

Surgeon Evertman examined : — 

Q. What position do you now hold at De- 
pot Prisoners of War ? 

A. I act as chief medical officer of United 
States forces and military prison. 

Q. How long have you held that position ? 

A. Since the 17th of May, 1864. 

Q. What is your o'pinion of the general 



68 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL ADTHORITIES 



healthfulness and salubrity of Johnson's Is- 
land? 

A. The general condition of the troops 
and prisoners of war at this post has been 
unusually good and hea'thy. The hospital in 
the prison, during the past two months, 
scarcely ever had more than thirty inmates 
among an aggregate number of two thou- 
sand one hundred prisoners of war. The 
prevailing diseases, during this time, were 
diarrhoea, acute and chronic ; a fi}w cases of 
dysentery, and a small number of intermit- 
tent fever. I consider the island as healthy 
as any locality I have ever visited. 

Q. Have you knoAvn any undue tendency 
to pulmonary disorders on this or the adjoin- 
ing islands, or any part of the surrounding 
country ? 

A. I have not, at least not during the 
time that I have been stationed here. In 
the early part of the spring there were some 
few cases of pneumonia and bronchitis, but 
not any more so than would be expected 
even in a climate further south than this. 

Q. What proportion of pulmonarj' com- 
plaints furnished in your hospital reports ? 

A. For the past six months the ratio has 
been as follows : 

Sick Treated. 

January, ... 64 

February, . . 66 

March,. .... 46 

April, .... 91 

May, 62 

June, .... 80 



Total, 



409 



Pulmonary Diseases. 
10 
5 
7 
1 
2 
5 

30 



Q. What is the appearance of the prison- 
ers generally at this time ? 

A. Their appearance is very good. The 
prisoners confined at this depot are all rebel 
officers, but have very little pride to keep 
themsehes or their quarters clean. 

Q. Do the prisoners seem to gain or de- 
cline in health after their arrival here ? 

A. As a general thing their health im- 
'proves. ]Mo?t of the prisoners are robust 
and in good physical condition. 

'HENRY EVERTMAN, 

Surgeon U. S. Vols., Chief Medical Officer. 

Subscribed in my presence and sworn 
to before nio at Sandusky, Ohio, 
tliis 5th day of July, ISOi. 

[seal.] Henuy C. Bush, 

Notary Public iu and for Erie County, Ohio. 

Deposition taken at Kelley's Island. 
George C. IIxs-stisg-tos exaniined : 

Q. How long have jou resided on Kol- 
ley's Island V 

A. Since the fall of 183S, with the ex- 
ception of one year, from the fall of 1844 



I to the fall of 1845. Have been acquainted 
on the Island since 1835. 
I Q. What me ms have you of furnishing a 
statement of the chnra-ter of the climate 
and sanitary condition of Kelley's Island, 
and the neighboring islands, and the sur- 
rounding country ? 

A. I have been in the habit, during the 
entire period of my residence on the island, 
of noting extremes of temperature, and 
such casual phenomena as would, in my 
opinion, have any bearing on the general 
health of the place ; and for more than five 
years past have made three records daily of 
everything conncL'ted with the changes of 
the weather, in the manner prescribed by, 
and under the direction of, the Smithso- 
nian Institution. 

Q. Please state the latitude, longitude, 
and height above tide-water, of Kelley's Is- 
land ; its population, and the general char- 
acter of the island for salubrity. 

A. My place of observation is in latitude 
41° 35' 44" N., longitude 82^ 42' 32'' W. 
The level of Lake Erie is 5G5 feet above 
tide- water, and the island may in some places 
rise fifty or sixty feet above the level of the 
lake ; but I think the mean height of the is- 
land would not vary much from twenty-five 
feet above the level of the lake. The popu- 
tion, in April last, was six hundred and fifty- 
one. As to the salubrity of the climate, the 
matter will be best determined by the statis- 
tics given in answer to the next question. 

Q. What has been the percentage of 
mortality, annually, on your island V 

A. In answer to this question I give an 
abstract from the records of the " Cemetery 
Association." This association was organ- 
ized in May, 1853, since which time the 
whole number of interments has been 43 
From this deduct, lost from vessels 

and washed ashore, 4 

Died in Nashville, from w'ds in battle, 1 — 5 

Whole number of interments in 1 1 years, 38 
To this add, died here and taken else- 
where for interment, 5 

Whole number of deaths in 11 years, 43 

From diseases reported as follows ; — 
Killed by premature blost 1, drowned 2, 3 
Old age 3, intemperance 1, dropsy 1, . 5 
Still-born and infants but a few days old, 8 
Dysentery and summer complaint, . . 9 

Inflammation of bowels, 3 

Diseases affecting respiratory organs, . 5 
Throat affection, age 76, age 50, . . . 2 
Fevers (one contracted in army hospital), 3 
Childbirth 1, congestion of brain 1, . . 2 
Fits 1, not specified 2, 3 

43 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



The average population of the island for 
this period of eleven years has been, as ap- 
pears by the returns of the township asses- 
sor, 428, which would give an annual mor- 
tality of 3.9 ; but if we deduct casualties 3, 
still-born and infonts, which, although born 
alive, had not vitality enough fairly to com- 
mence the journey of life, 8 ; and one from 
disease contracted in hospital in Nashville, 1, 
it Avill reduce the number of deaths proper- 
ly chargeable to disease and old age to thir- 
ty-one, or an annual mortality of 2 82 in a 
population of 428. This would be an annual 
mortality from all causes of one per cent., 
and fi-om disease, including old age, an annu- 
al mortality of less than seventy-three-hun- 
dredths of one per cent. (0.724.) By 
comparing these results with the tables of 
mortality in different sections of the coun- 
try, the salubrity of our climate and the 
immunity from the ordinary diseases of the 
country enjoyed by the inhabitants of this 
island as compared with other localities, may 
be easily deduced. 

Q. What is the distance of Kelley's from 
Johnson's Island, and is there any difference 
in the physical or sanitavy peculiarities of 
the two islands ? 

A. Johnson's Island is about seven miles 
nearly due south from Kelley's Island, and I 
am not aware of any natural causes which 
should make any difference in the salubrity 
of climate or sanitary condition of the two 
localities, unless the difference in the water 
between Sandusky Bay and the open lake 
(the latter being considered rather more free 
from impurities) might be considered a dif- 
ference, so far as it is used for culinary pur- 
poses or as a beverage. 

Q. Is there any undue tendency to pul- 



69 



monary disorders among the inhabitai ts of 
these islands ? 

A. By reference to the answer to a pre- 
ceding question, it will be seen that the 
whole number of deaths from diseases affect- 
ing the respiratory organs in a period of 
eleven years, and in a population averaging 
four hundred and twenty-eight, was but tive, 
and of this number one was a transient per- 
son ; leaving but four cases in eleven years 
among those who could be properly called 
residents. 

Q. Has Johnson's Island ever had a bad 
repute for unhealthiness ? 

A. I have never heard Johnson's Island 
called unhealthy. 

Q. Have you ever known any very fatal 
diseases among the inhabitants of Lake Erie? 

A . The Asiatic cholera has passed through 
the lake region as an epidemic four times^ I 
think, since it first made its appearance on 
this continent in 1832. I am not aware of 
any other very fatal diseases having prevailed 
in the lake region since my first acquaint- 
ance with it in 1 830. 

State of Ohio, / 

Erie County, \, * *• 

Before me, the subscriber, a Notary Pub- 
lic in and for the County of Erie and State 
of Ohio, personally came G. C. Huntington, 
who, being duly sworn by me according to 
law, deposes and says that the statements 
above made are compiled from official and 
other reliable data, and that they are true 
according to his knowledge and belief. 

GEO. C. HUNTINGTON. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me, 
July 4tll, A. D. 1804. 

[seal.] a. S Kelley, 

A'otary Public. 



EVIDENCE OF SOLDIEES OF THE REBEL ARMY CONFINED AT UNITED STATES 

STATIONS. 



Testimony taken at Lincoln Hospital, Wash- 
ington, D. C, taken June 4, 1864. 

Commissioners Present. - Dr. Wal- 
lace, Mr. VValden. 

WxLLiAM H. Ferguson; 11th Mississippi 
infantry , twenty-six years old ; private in 
Confederate service three years ; health 
^ood while in service and up to the time of 
nv .capture. 

Had walled tents somecimes. and -ftoint" 
iometunes when ir winter quarters 

Always uau this kind of covering ex,epl 
while in active service ; then we had n*^ tents 
or cabins, say froni first of May till we go 
into winter quarters. 

We commonly carry one blanket. 



Could have more if we wanted it. 

Could take captured tents and carry and 
use them if we chose. 

We were comfoi-table as far as body clo- 
thing and blankets are concerned ; when 
one coat or pants wears out we can get more 
from our own quartermasters. 

A day's ration is one and one-eighth pounds 
wheat flour or one and one fourth pounds 
•^orr meal • one and one-fourth pounds beef, 
iresh Ceould crenerally get fresh beef, driving 
rattle -^long with us), or half-pound bacon 
in piace of beef; we also drew during the 
first year of war, coffee, sugar, and rice ; 
second and third years had no coffee ; some- 
times we could get sugar and rice ; since 
Christmas last we got coffee again. 



70 

We always had plenty to eat and some- 
times more, while not on campaign ; but on 
campaign, then we always had enough, but 
none to spare. 

Since our capture we get enough grub to 
keep us from hunger; we don't suffer; we 
have a full allowance ; we are as well treated 
as your own men. 

I was wounded in my right leg just above 
the ankle ; healing kindly now. 

Kindly treated by the officers and subordi- 
nates since our capture. 

I have not been, and never have seen any 
of our boys, robbed or otherwise ill-treated 
by the Union men ; I have seen and heard 
some occasional rough talk and swearing at 
us, but nothing more than that ; this was 
from a few ot the privates ; not a general 
rule. 

We have had civil talk and argument as 
a common thing with the Union soldiers on 
the subject of the war. 

I was captured 5th of May, 1864. 

Our food in the Confederate army was of 
good quality. 

Our corn meal that we had was very 
good ; we had generally white, sometimes 
yellow meal ; it was bolted or sifted, and of 
fine grain. 

We never had grains of corn or bits of cob 
in our meal. 

WILLIAM H. FERGUSON, 

Company D, 11th Mississippi Volunteers. 

I have been in the Confederate service 
two years and six months ; was captured on 
fifth of May, 1864. Was wounded through 
the right slioulder and chest. I am improv- 
ing in strength ; and I suppose I am gaining 
flesh now, though I am not as strong or 
fleshy as when I was captured. 

I have been present at the statements 
made by William H. Ferguson, 11th Missis- 
sippi Volunteers ; I have heard them aU ; I 
substantiate their accuracy from my experi- 
ence and observation as to our condition in 
the service, though I was attached to a differ- 
ent corps of the army. 

W. O. QUARLES, 

Company II, 3d Alabama Regiment, Infantry. 

Larkin a. Griffin, native of South 
Carolina; home in Florida; belong to 1st 
South Carolina rifles. 

The statement made by William H. Fergu- 
son has been read and shown to n>e. It 
agrees with my observation and experience 
except as noted below. I have been in 
Confederate service nearly three years ; my 
health was always excellent while in the ser- 
vice'; I was well and strong when wounded 
and captured; captured on 12th May, 1864. 

During the winter of 1862 and 1863, we 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



had full rations of bread, but only half ra- 
tions of bacon for about three months. 

Our corn meal was very finely ground, but 
the hull was not sifted out. 

In a few isolated cases our captured men 
were directed to leave their knapsacks and 
haversacks behind them ; it was not a gene- 
ral thing at all. 

I never saw nor heard our men sworn at 
or cursed by the Union soldiers. 

L. A. GRIFFIN. 

I have seen and had read to me the state- 
ments made by William H. Ferguson. They 
are correct as proved by my own experience 
and observation generally. I haTe been in 
the Confederate service three years ; my 
health and strength while in the service 
was good during the third year ; better 
than before. 

We had coffee always, except during 
1863, up to about Christmas. 

A Union lieutenant once damned me and 
told me I was not worthy of a place. I re- 
plied, " I hoped the Lord would forgive him 
and make him a better man." 

PLEASANT H. REESE, 

Company I, 13tii Georgia Regiment. 

I have seen and had read to me the state- 
ments made by William H. Ferguson. 

They are correct as proved by my own 
experience and observation generally. I 
have been in the Confederate service two 
years ; my health was not very good til! this 
last winter ; then it was tolerably good ; could 
do all my duties. Through last summer we 
did not draw coffee. 

JOSEPH F. DAVIDSON, 

Company A, 4yth Georgia Regiment. 

Virgil Carroll, aged twenty-one ; ar- 
tillery, Virginia. 

Clothing always good and warm. 

Plenty of blankets and good shelter ; shel- 
ter tents. 

Plenty to eat. Rations — coffee, sugar, 
bacon, meal, occasionally fresh meat, pota- 
toes (Irish), rice, peas, wheat bread. 

Always enough ; much as we could con- 
sume ; this especially during the last thi-ee 
montlis. 

Clothing very plentiful. 

Fourth year in the army ; never suffered 
for food or clothing. 

VIRGIL CARROLL. 

I corroborate the above statement of Vir- 
gil Carroll. S. P. TVVEDY, 

Company C, lltn Regiment, Virginia. 

JosuuA Barker, South Carolina, 4th 
Rifles. I corroborate the above statement of 
Virsil Carroll. JOSHUA BARKER. 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



71 



C. A. Bowman, North Carolina 3'2d. _Ij 
coiToboratc the above statement of Virgil 
Carroll. C A. BOWMAN. 

District of Columbia, ) 
County of Washington, ) * 

Personally appeared before me the within 
named William H. Ferguson, W. O. Quarles, 
L. A. Griffin, Pleasant H. Reese, Joseph F. 
Davidson, Virgil Carroll, S. P. Twedy, 
Joshua Barker, C. A. Bowman, who, being 
severally sworn, say that the statements set 
forth by them are correct and true to the best 
of their knowledge and belief. 

Given under my hand and seal at Wash- 
ington, D.C., this fourth day of June, A. D. 
1864. 

M. H. N. Kendig, 

Notary Public. 

Testimony taken at De Camp General Hos- 
pital, U. S. A., New York, Jane 17, 1864. 

CoMMissioxER Present: — Mr. Wllklns. 

Deposition of A. B. Barron, of Habersham 
county, Georgia, Co. K, 24th Georgia. 

I have served in the Confederate service 
two years and three days. I arrived at this 
hospital two days since, and depose as fol- 
lows : 

That I have served In Virginia, and was 
wounded at Cool Arbor. 

I the Confederate service we had no tents 
in the field, except shelter tents ; had one 
blanket and one oil-cloth, and lay on the 
ground. i 

When wounded, had on a good suit and a | 
change of clothes, but was not robbed of 
money, clothes, or anything Avhich I had 
when taken captive. 

To-morrow being the last day of the week, 
and the time for a regular supply of cloth- 
ing, I expect clean clothes. Everything was 
in a proper state for my reception when I 
arrived here. 

I have been in the Confederate hospitals 
in the field ; there were straw beds and a few 
sheets. 

Rations in our service were bacon, half 
pound, or one pound of beef; rice, coffee 
and sugar occasionally; rations of bread were 
six hard biscuit a day, or half pound of meal 
or flour a day. 

We had a plentiful supply of wood ; our 
people did not suffer from cold. 

AVo had medical attendance and medicines 
as we had need. 

The sick were treated kindly ; there was 
care as to our cleanliness ; It was the best ; 
soap, &c., was Issued to us ; no want of salt. 

Since we were captured, we have been 
treated very well, just as well as your own 
boys all the time, and we have no fault to 
find. I was told 1 could not find it so. 



I was a farmer ; worked on my father's 
farm. I expected to be made a conscript, 
and volunteered in preference. 

ALBERT B. BARRON. 
Sworn to before me, 

Warren Webster, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., iu charge of Hospital. 

Deposition of Wm. M. Farmer, native of 
Franklin county, Georgia, Company H, 
24th Georgia Regiment. Business, a far- 
mer. 

I entered the service of the 'Confederate 
States in August, 1861 ; was wounded and 
taken prisoner at Cool Arbor. 

I had on, when wounded, a waistcoat, 
pants, drawers, shirt and boots, and not any- 
thing was taken away from me by my cap- 
tors. 

I have needed nothing since captured, hav- 
ing been supplied at the landing by the San- 
itary Commission. 1 have had plenty to eat ; 
no difference has been made since my cap- 
ture between the wounded prisoners and the 
Federal wounded. 

Rations in our service were bacon, half 
pound, or half pound of beef; rice, 'coffee 
and sugar occasionally ; rations of bread were 
six hard biscuit a day, or half pound of meal, 
or half pound of flour a day. I have always 
had food enough of this kind, and while in 
Virginia the same as elsewhere. 

In the Confederate service we had good 
tents in the winter, but on the march we 
had only blankets, and no shelter. 

I was in No. 4 General Hospital, Rich- 
mond, during sixteen days, in May 18G3 ; we 
had there as much as we could eat, with good 
bedding and sheets as we have here. 

We were better off in the hospital than in 
the field, as we had there coffee, sugar and 
soft bread. 

I have had every comfort and attention 
since I have been here. The same in all re- 
spects as Union solders. 

WILLIAM M. FARMEPu 

Sworn to before me, 

Warren Webster, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., in cliarge of Hospital. 

Deposition of Daniei. F. Prince, native of 
Columbus county, North Carolina, Com- 
pany H, 51st Regiment. 
I entered the Confederate service in 
March, 1862, and arrived here on the 15th 
of June last. I was wounded at the battle 
of Cool Arbor ; had some extra clothing in a 
bundle, which was cut loose by a Federal 
soldier at my request. 

I lay in a cross fire, and the Federal sol- 
diers dragged me out of the line of the fire 
Into a ditch. 

I was treated mighty kindly. 



72 



The Federals dressed my wounds, and 
cnriied me to White House Landing, and 
sent me immediately North with your own 
buys. 

In the Confederate service we always got 
one pound of beef or half a pound of bacon 
a day ; we had flour or corn bread alternate- 
ly, one pound of flour, or one and a quarter 
pounds of corn meal ; we had no tea or cof- 
fee ; we had salt, and a gill of peas or rice a 
day extra. 

We had three full suits of clothes a year, 
if needed; if more, we drew them and had 
to j)ay for them ; we had blankets and oil- 
clutiis. 

We had tents at stations, but no tents in 
the field. 

We had overcoats in cold weather made 
of wool. 

I have been supplied with everything I 
have wanted since I came here, and see no 
diflerence between my treatment and that 
of Union soldiers here in the hospital. 

DANIEL F. >< PRINCE. 

mark. 
Sworn to before me, 

Waruf.n Webster, 

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., in charge of Hos- 
pital. •• 

Depotiilion of Joseph Whichard, Pitt 

County, North Carolina, Company G, 8th 

Regiment, North Carolina. 

I entered the service in September, 1861, 
and have served in North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Georgia, and at last in Virginia, 
where I was wounded at Cool Arbor. 

I had on at the time, pants, shoes, a shirt, 
and a pair of drawers ; my clothes were cut 
otf by the surgeon in order to dress my 
wounds, and clean ones were afterwards sup- 
plied to me by Union men, both on board 
the boat and since I have been here. 

I have my jacket, and the rest of my 
property is on the Utile stand at the head of 
my bed. 

A blanket was taken away from me when 
wounded, but another has been I'urnishcd. 

Rations, half a pound bacon, and ten hard 
biscuits, daily; nothing else to eat; no rice, 
peas, or corn meal. 

Was in the hospital at Wilmington, North 
Carolina, a year ago last May. The fare 
was tolerable. 

On a march, had an abundance, except 
for a day or two, when it could not be got. 

Have had everything I want, or have 
asked for, since I have been here. 

J. WHICHARD. 

Sworn to I'pfore me, 

Wakuen Weestei:, 
Assistant burgeon U. S. A. la charge of Hospital. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



Deposition of Michael Sutton, Sampson 

County, North Carolina, Company B, 51&t 

Regiment. 

I have been nearly three years in the 
Confederate service ; this is my second en- 
listment; I might have been drafted if I had 
not re-enlisted. I served near Charlestown, 
South Carolina, and was wounded at Cool 
Arbor ; had some clothes on ; no clothes now 
except what was furnished me by Union 
men ; my own clothes were bloody and had 
to be thrown away. 

I have not been robbed of anything. 

Rations for four days, one pound of bacon, 
and eighteen ounces of corn meal ; same 
Aveight of flour, but rarely; had rice and 
peas, half pint of rice, and a short half pint 
of peas a day. Meal not always good, but 
lumpy and smelt bad, and then we were 
rather stinted for food. Since we have been 
'round Richmond we have been short ; it was 
enough to live upon " without enough." 

Been in hospital in Wilmington, North 
Carolina; "fare awful hard;" want of food; 
beds, &c., were clean. 

Treated well on board the vessel ; the same 
as Union soldiers; kind and attentive here; 
fared fine while I have been here ; 1 have 
not asked for anything but what I have got 
it. 

MICHAEL >i' SUTTON. 

mark. 
Sworn to before me, 

Warren Webster, 
Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., in charge of hos- 
pital. 

Testimony taken at Fort Delaware^ June 2\st, 
1864. 

Commissioners Present. — Dr. Wal- 
lace, Judge Hare. 

George S. Roler sworn and examined : — 

I am from Virginia ; was in the artillery, 
Ewell's Corps ; I am comfortable here ; I 
have just come here last evening ; came 
through Washington, from Spottsj Ivania 
Court^ House, where I was taken prisoner. 

Was kindly treated on the way up ; liad 
been in the service (Confederate) three 
months when taken prisoner. 

We had plenty of rations from Confederate 
Government ; they issued us meal, some 
flour, bacon, sugar, coffee and salt ; got meat 
every day, half pound bacon or a pound of 
beef; one and one-eighth pound of meal a 
day, which we made ourselves; plenty of 
coffee and sugar all the winter; we did not 
suffer for want of food. 

Clothing plenty all winter; that was the 
case of the other men as well as myself; wo 



TO PRISONERS OF AVAR. 



all had two blankets — some more; none I 
think less than two. 

GEORGE S. KOLER. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 21st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

Henry Daniel, sioorn and examined : — 

I have been in the Confederate service, 
infantry, Ewell's corps, for two years; I came 
here yesterday; taken prisoner at Spottsyl- 
vania; am from Georgia. 

Had plenty to eat while in the Confederate 
service ; had half pound of bacon, one and 
one-eighth pounds of flour a day during the 
winter; in the spring, beef one pound a 
day ; provisions of good quality ; besides this 
had meal, Irish potatoes, peas, coffee, and 
sugar. 

Had clothes enough to keep warm ; two 
blankets, one overcoat; the army at large 
had them ; nothing to complain of in the way 
of food and clothing. 

HENRY 'A DANIEL. 

mark. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 21st, 1864. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

William Sharp, sivorn and examined : — 

I have been three years in the Confederate 
service the 9th of next month, in Hill's 
coi-ps ; I am from Georgia ; taken prisoner at 
Spottsylvania. 

Treatment was not so good part of the 
way coming up here ; they did not give us 
anything to eat but four crackers a day till 
we got to Belle Plain, to the boat ; after that 
we had plenty ; the guards that were with us 
across to Belle Plain did not get it either; the 
infantry guard that fetched us to Fredericks- 
burg had no more than we ; the cavalry 
brought us, I don't know how they fared. 

Rations last winter in the Confederate 
service pretty good ; got one and one-eighth 
pounds of flour, one-quarter pound of salt 
pork, when we got sugar and coffee; when 
we did not get sugar and coffee, had half a 
pound salt pork ; sometimes we drew corn 
meal and got a pound and a quarter of it ; 
got some potatoes once and a while ; some 
beans occasionally, and some rice. 

Clothes were very good last winter ; had 
one blanket to each man ; some had two 
blankets; had overcoats. 

Heard no complaints of want of food or 
clothing, being well clothed and fed. 

1 was as fat as I ever was in my life, when 
I was taken at Spottsylvania. 



73 



We had tents and cabins built during the 
winter. 

WILLIAIM M SHARP. 

m.trk. 
Sworn to and subscribed before 
me, June 21st., 1864; 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

J. S. Moore, sworn and examined : — 

I have been in the Confederate service 
nearly three years. Taken prisoner near 
Spottsylvania Court House ; was treated tol- 
erably well on the way up here ; did not get 
quite enough to eat. 

Plenty to eat last winter and spring in 
the Confederate serAace ; got meal, flour, ba- 
con, a quarter of a pound of bacon a day, 
and one and one-quarter pounds of meal, 
sometimes sugar and coffee and potatoes; 
did not get beans ; got no fresh meat last 
spring. Was in Hill's corps. 

Had plenty of clothing; one blanket a 
piece ; overcoats ; some had two blankets. 

We could not carry more than one blanket 
a piece ; could have had more if we had 
chosen to carry them. 

Sometimes we threw them away. 

I came from Mississippi. 

Sometimes drew flour, one pound, instead 
of meal ; never got any more bacon than at 
first ; had plenty to eat all the time ; gene- 
rally had coffee on hand all the time ; used 
to have peas last fall ; was as well fed, with 
the exception of coflee, last winter as before. 
JOHN S. MOORE. 

Sworn to and subscribed before , 
me, June 21st, 1S04. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United Statps Commissioner. 

L. S. Crews, sioorn and examined : — 

I entered the Confederate service last 
December. I was taken prisoner near 
Spottsylvania Court House ; came from Vir- 
ginia ; in Ewell's corps ; well treated coming 
up here ; got more than I could eat, for I was 
sick ; they all got plenty coming up here, as 
far as I know. 

Rations last winter in our own army were 
tolerable ; was on corn meal principally 
through the winter ; got one and one-quarter 
pound of corn meal a day, half pound of 
bacon ; sometimes molasses and potatoes ; 
some fish, some sugar and coffee ; drawed a 
little rice ; got no fresh meat ; had a little 
last December ; had enough food to satisfy 
hunger. 

The men were clothed tolerably well — all 
of the men had not blankets ; some had 
thrown them away ; it was so with the over- 
coats. I was conscripted. 

his 

L. S. ^ CREWS, 
mark. 



74 



Sworn to and subscribed before mc, 
June 21st, lS(Vi. 

D. P. BiiowN, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

R. D. Benefield, sworn and examined : — 
Taken prisoner near Spottsylvania ; was 
well treated, as well as could be expected 
on my way up here. 

Got about enough to eat in the Confed- 
erate service — one and one-quarter p.ounds 
of meal, and one-quarter pound of bacon ; 
got some sugar, some potatoes, rice, and 
coffee ; no beans or peas ; some sugar ; al- 
lowance of bacon the same all the time ; I 
don't recollect drawing any fresh meat ; got 
flour sometimes. 

Got tolerable plenty of clothes ; all had 
plenty of blankets ; some overcoats. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



The men did not suffer, as Ikn 'w of. from 
cold ; have been in the service since Febru- 
ary, 1861. Was in Ewell's corps. 
R. D. BENEFIELD, 

Company A, 37th Georgia. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, 
June 21st, 181)4. 

D. P. Brown, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 

I certify that the foregoing testimony, 
taken at Fort Delaware, June 21st, 1864, 
was taken and reduced to writing by me, 
in the presence of the respective witnesses, 
and by them sworn to and subscribed in my 
presence, at the time and in the manner set 
forth. 

D. P. BROWN, Jr., 

United States Commissioner. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



SUFFERINGS OF THE PRISONERS AT ANDERSON VILLE, GA. — MEMORIAL FROM THE 
PRISONERS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES— LETTER OF MAJOK^ 
GENERAL BUTLER, UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EXCHANGE, TO COLONEL 
OULD, CONFEDERATE COMMISSIONER. 



Account of the sufferinr/s of Union prisoners 
of war, at Camp iSumler, Andersonville, 
Georgia. 

From tbe Sanitary Commission Bulletin. 

The following statement was drawn up 
for the Commission, and sworn to by the 
parties signing it. They were exchanged 
on the 16 th of August, and with three others 
were appointed by their companions in 
prison as a deputation to see President Lin- 
coln in their behalf. 

Deposition of Private Tracy: — 

I am a private in the 8 2d New York Regi- 
ment of Volunteers, Company G. Was cap- 
tured with about eight hundred Federal 
troops, in front of Petersburg, on the 22d of 
June, 18G4. We were kept at Petersburg 
two days, at Richmond, Belle Isle, three 
days, then conveyed by rail to Lynchburg. 
Marched seventy-five miles to Danville, 
thence by rail to Andersonville, Georgia. 
At Petersburg we were treated fairly, being 
under the guard of old soldiers of an Ala- 
bama regiment ; at Richmond we came under 
the authority of the notorious and inhuman 
Major Turner, and the equally notorious 
Home Guard. Our ration was a pint of 
beans, four ounces of bread, and three ounces 
of meat, a day. .Another batch of prisoners 
joining us, we left Richmond sixteen hundred 
strong. 

All blankets, haversacks, canteens, money, 



valuables of every kind, extra clothing, and 
in some cases the last shirt and drawers, had 
been previously taken from us. 

At Lynchburg we were placed under the 
Home Guard, officered by Major and Cap- 
tain Moffett. The march to Danville was 
a weary and painful one of five days, under 
a torrid sun, many of us falling helpless by 
the way, and soon filling the empty wagons 
of our train. On the first day we received 
a little meat, but the suin of our rations for 
the five days was thirteen crackers. During 
the six days by rail to Andersonville, meat 
was given us twice, and the daily ration was 
four crackers. 

On entering the Stockade Prison, w 
found it crowded with twenty-eight thou- 
sand of our fellow-soldiers. By crowded, I 
mean that it was difficult to move in any di- 
rection without jostling and being jostled. 
This prison is an open space, sloping on both 
sides, originally seventeen acres, now twen- 
ty-five acres, in the shape of a parallelogram, 
without trees or shelter of any kind. The 
soil is sand over a bottom of clay. The 
fence is made of upright, trunks of trees, 
about twenty feet high, near the top of 
which are small platforms, where the guards 
are stationed., Twenty feet inside and par- 
allel to the fence is a light railing, forming 
the " dead line," beyond which the projec- 
tion of a foot or finger is sure to bring the 
deadly bullet of the sentinel. 

Through the ground, at nearly right-angles 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



75 



PRISON AT ANDERSONS fLLE, GEORGIA. 




TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



with the longer sides, runs or rather creeps 
a stream through an artificial channel, vary- 
ing from five to six feet in width, the water 
about ankle deep, and near the middle of 
the enclosure, spreading out into a swamp 
of about six acres, filled with refuse wood, 
stumps and debris of the camp. Before en- 
tering this enclosure, the stream, or more 
properly sewer, passes through the camp of 
the guards, receiving from this source, and 
others farther up, a large amount of the vilest 
material, even the contents of the sink. The 
water is of a dark color, and an ordinary 
glass would collect a thick sediment. This 
was our only drinking and cooking water. 
It was our custom to filter it as best we could, 
through our remnants of haversacks, shirts 
and blouses. Wells had been dug, but the 
water either proved so productive of diarr- 
hoea, or so limited in quantity that they were 
of no general use. The cook-house was 
situated on the stream just outside the stock- 
ade, and its refuse of decaying offal was 
thrown into the water, a greasy coating cov- 
ering much of the surface. To these was 
added the daily large amount of base matter 
from the camp itself. There was a system 
of policing, but the means was so limited, 
and so large a number of the men was ren- 
dered irresolute and dejijressed by imprison- 
ment, that the work was very imperfectly 
done. One side of the swamp Avas naturally 
used as a sink, the men usually going out 
some distance into the water. Under the 
summer sun this place early became cor- 
ruption too vile for description, the men 
breeding disgusting life, so that the surface 
of the water moved as with a gentle breeze. 

The new-comers, on reaching this, would 
exclaim : " Is this hell ?" yet they soon would 
become callous, and enter unmoved the hor- 
rible rottenness. The rebel authorities 
never removed any filth. There was sel- 
dom any visitation by the officers in charge. 
Two surgeons were at one time sent by Presi- 
dent Davis to inspect the camp, but a walk 
through a small section gave them all the 
information they desired, and we never saw 
them again. 

The guards usually numbered about sixty- 
four — eight at each end, and twenty-four 
on a side. On the outside, within three 
hundred yards, were fortifications, on high 
ground, overlooking and perfectly command- 
ing us, mounting twenty-four twelve-pound 
Napoleon Parrotts. We were never per- 
mitted to go outside, except at times, in small 
squads, to gather our firewood. During 
the building of the cook-house, a few, who 
were carpenters, were ordered out to assist. 

Our only shelter from the sun and rain 
and night dews was what we could make by 
stretching over us our coats or scraps of 



77 



blankets, which a few had, but generally 
there was no attempt by day or night to pro- 
tect ourselves. 

The rations consisted of eight ounces of 
corn bread (the cob being ground with the 
kernel), and generally sour, two ounces of 
condemned pork, offensive in appeai'ance 
and smell. Occasionally, about twice a 
week, two tablespoonfuls of rife, and in place 
of the pork the same amount (two tab) •- 
spoonfuls) of molasses were given us about 
twice a month.* This ration was brought 
into camp about four o'clock, P. M., and 
thrown from the wagons to the ground, the 
men being arranged in divisions of two hun- 
dred and seventy, subdivided into squads of 
nineties and thirties. It was the custom to 
consume the whole ration at once, rather 
than save any for the next day. The distri- 
bution being often unequal some would lose 
the rations altogether. We were allowed 
no dish or cooking utensil of any kind. On 
opening the camp in the winter, the first two 
thousand prisoners Avere allowed skillets, one 
to fifty men, but these were soon taken 
away. To the best of my knowledge, in- 
formation and belief, our ration was in quality 
a starving one, it being either too foul to be 
touched or too I'aw to be digested. 

The cook-house went into operation about 
May 10th, prior to which we cooked our own 
rations. It did not prove at all adequate to 
the work, (thirty thousand is a large town,) 
so that a large proportion were still obliged 
to prepare their own food. In addition to 
the utter inability of many to do this, through 
debility and sickness, we never had a supply 
of wood. I have often seen men with a little 
bag of meal in hand, gathered from several 
rations, starving to death for want of wood, 
and in desperation would mix the raw ma- 
terial with water and try to eat it. 

The clothing of the men was miserable in 
the extreme. Very few had shoes of any 
kind, not two thousand had coats and pants, 
and those were late comers. More than one- 
half were indecently exposed, and many 
were naked. 

The usual punishment was to place the 
men in the stocks, outside, near the Captain's 
quarters. If a man was missing at roll-call, 
the squad of ninety to which he belonged was 
deprived of the ration. The " dead-line " 
bullet, already referred to, spared no offeud- 

* Our reg:ular army ration is : 
i lb. Poilc or li lbs. Fresh Boef. 
18 ozs. Hard Bread, or W ozs. Soft Bread or Flour, 
1-10 lb. Coffee, 
1-0 lb. Sugar, 
1-10 lb. Itiee, or 
1-10 lb. Beans or Hominy. 

Vegetables — Fresh or"] 

MoYal'^'s?'^'' irregularly. 

Vinegar. J 



71 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORmES 



er. One poor fellow, just from Sherman's 
army — his name was Roberts — was trying 
to wash his face near the "dead-line" rail- 
ing, when he slipped on the clayey bottom, 
and fell with his head just outside the fatal 
border. We shouted to him, but it was too 
late — " another guard would haA'e a fur- 
lough," the men said. It was a common be- 
lief among our men, arising from statements 
made by the guard, that General Winder, 
in command, issued an order that any one 
of the guard who should shoot a Yankee out- 
side of the " dead-line " should have a 
month's furlough, but there probably was no 
truth in this. About two a day were thus 
shot, some being cases of suicide, brought on 
by mental depression or physical misery, the 
poor fellows throwing themselves, or madly 
rushing outside the " line." 

The mental condition of a large portion of 
the men was melancholy, beginning in des- 
pondency and tending to a kind of stolid and 
idiotic indifference. Many spent much time 
in arousing and encouraging their fellows, 
but hundreds were lying about motionless, or 
stalking vacantly to and fro, quite beyond 
any help which could be given them within 
their prison walls. These cases were fre- 
quent among those who had been imprisoned 
but a short time. There were those who 
were captured at the first Bull Run, July 
1861, and had known Belle Isle from the 
first, yet had preserved their physical and 
mental health to a wonderful degree. Many 
were wise and resolute enough to keep 
themselves occupied — some in cutting bone 
and wood ornaments, making their knives 
out of iron hoops — others in manufacturing 
ink from the rust from these same hoops, and 
with rude pens sketching or imitating bank 
notes, or any sample that would involve long 
and patient execution. 

Letters from home very seldom reached 
us, and few had any means of writing. In 
the early summer, a large batch of letters — 
five thousand we were told — arrived, hav- 
ing been accumulating somewhere for many 
months. These were brought into camp by 
an officer, under orders to collect ten cents 
on each - — of course most were returned, and 
WG heard no more of them. One of my 
companions saw among them three from his 
parents, but he was unable to pay the 
charge. According to the rules of transmis- 
sion of letters over the lines, these letters 
must have already paid ten cents each to the 
rebel government. 

As far as we saw General Winder and 
Captain WIrtz, the former was kind and 
considerate In his manners, the latter harsh, 
though not without kindly feelings. 

It is a melancholy and mortifying fact, 
that some of our trials came from our own 



men. At Belle Isle and Andersonville there 
were among us a gang of desperate men, 
ready to prey on their fellows. Not only- 
thefts and robberies, but even murders were 
committed. Affairs became so serious at 
Camp Sumter that an appeal was made to 
General Winder, who authorized an arrest 
and trial by a criminal court. Elghty-six 
were arrested, and six were hung, beside 
others who were severely punished. These 
proceedings effected a marked change for 
the better. 

Some few weeks before being released, I 
was ordered to act as clerk in the hospital. 
This consists simply of a few scattered trees 
and fly tents, and Is In charge of Dr. AVhIte, 
an excellent and considerate man, with very 
limited means, but doing all in his power for 
his patients. He has twenty-five assistants, 
besides those detailed to examine for admit- 
tance to the hospital. This examination was 
made In a small stockade attached to the 
main one, to the inside door of which the 
sick came or were brought by their comrades, 
the number to be removed being limited. 
Lately, in consideration of the rapidly in- 
creasing sickness, it was extended to one 
hundred and fifty daily. That this was too 
small an allowance is shown by the fact that 
the deaths within our stockade were from 
thirty to forty a day. I have seen one hun- 
dred and filty bodies waiting passage to the 
" d 'ad house," to be buried with those who 
died In hospital. The average of deaths 
through the earlier months was thirty a day : 
at the time I left, the average was over one 
hundred and thirty, and one day the record 
showed one hundred and fbrty-si.K. 

The jiroportlon of deaths from starvation, 
not Including those consequent on the dis- 
eases originating in the character and limited 
quantity of food, such as diarrhoea, dysentery 
and scurvy, I cannot state ; but to the best of 
my knowledge. Information and belief, there 
were scores every month. We could, at any 
time, point out many for whom such a fate 
was inevitable, as they lay or feebly walked, 
mere skeletons, whose emaciation exceeded 
the examples given in Leslie's Illustrated for 
June 18, 1864. For example : In some case? 
the inner edges of the two bones of the arms, 
between the elbow and the wrist, with the 
Intermediate blood vessels, were plainly vis- 
ible when held toward the light. The ra- 
tion. In quantity, Avas perhaps barely suffi- 
cient to sustain life, and the cases of starva- 
tion were generally those whose stomachs 
could not retain what had become entirely 
indigestible. 

For a man to find, on waking, that his 
comrade by his side was dead, was an occur- 
rence too common to be noted. I have seen 
I death in almost all the forms of the hospital 



TO PEISONERS OF WAR. 



and battle-field, but the daily scenes in 
Camp Sumter exceeded in the extremity of 
misery all my previous experience. 

The work ot" burial is performed by our 
own men, under guai-d and orders, twenty- 
five bodies being placed in a single pit, with- 
out head-boards, and the sad duty perform- 
ed with indecent haste. Sometimes our 
men were rewarded for this work with a few 
sticks of fire-wood, and I have known them 
to quarrel over a dead body for the joh. 

Dr. White is able to give the patients a 
diet but little better than the prison rations 
— a little flour porridge, arrow-root, whis- 
key and wild or hog tomatoes. In the way of 
medicine, I saw nothing but camphor, whis- 
key, and a decoction of some kind of bark — 
white oak, I think. He often expressed his 
regret that he had not more medicines. 
The limitation of military orders, under 
which the surgeon in charge was placed, is 
shown by the following occurrence : A sup- 
posed private, wounded in the thigh, was 
under treatment in the hospital, when it was 
discovered that he was a major of a colored 
regiment. The assistant-surgeon, under 
whose immediate charge he was, proceeded 
at once not only to remove him, but to kick 
him out, and lie Avas returned to the stockade, 
to sliift for himself as well as he could. Dr. 
White could not or did not attempt to re- 
store him. 

After entering on my duties at the hospi- 
tal, I was occasionally favored with double 
rations and some wild tomatoes. A few of 
our men succeeded, in spite of the closest 
examination of our cloths, in secreting some 
green-backs, and with those were able to 
buy useful articles at exorbitant prices : — 
a tea-cup of flour at one dollar; eggs, 
three to six dollars a dozen ; salt, four 
dollars a pound ; molasses, thirty dollars a 
gallon ; nigger beans, a small, inferior article, 
(diet of the slaves and pigs, but highly relish- 
ed by us,) fifty cents a pint. These figures, 
multiplied by ten, will give very nearly the 
price in Confederate currency. Though the 
country abounded in pine and oak, sticks were 
sold to us at various prices, according to size. 

Our men, especially the mechanics, were 
tempted with the offer of liberty and large 
wages to take the oath of allegiance to the 
Confederacy, but it was very rare that their 
patriotism, even under such a fiery trial, ever 
gave way. I can-y this message from one of 
my companions to his mother : " My treat- 
ment here is killing me, mother, but I die 
cheerfully for my country." 

Some attempts were made to escape, but 
wholly in vain, for, if the prison walls and 
guards were passed and the protecting woods 
reached, the bloodhounds were sure to find us 
out. 



79 



Tunneling was at once attempted on a 
large scale, but on the afternoon preceding 
the night fixed on for escape, an officer rode 
in and announced to us that the plot was 
discovered, and from our huge pen we could 
see on the hill above us the regiments just 
arriving to strengthen the guard. We had 
been betrayed. It was our belief that spies 
were kept in the camp, which could very 
easily be done. 

The number in camp when I left was 
nt cirly thirtj'-five thousand, and daily increas- 
ing. The number in hospital was about five 
thousand. I was exchanged at Port Eoyal 
Ferry, August 16 th. 

PRESCOTT TRACY, 

Eighty-second Regiment, N. Y. V. 

City and County of New York, sa. 

H. C. HiGGiNSON and S. Noirot, being 
duly sworn, say : That the above statement 
of Prescott Tracy, their fellow-prisoner, 
agrees with their own knowledge and expe- 
rience. - 

H. C. HIGGINSON, 

Co. K, Nineteenth Illinois Vols. 

SILVESTER NOIROT, 

Co. B, Fifth New Jersey Vols. 



The Memorial qf the Union Prisoners con- 
fined at AndersonvUle, Ga., to the Presi- 
dent of the United Stales. 

COXFEDERATK STATES PRISON, 

Charleston, S. C, August, 1864. 
To THE President of the United 
States : 

The condition of the enlisted men belong- 
ing to the Union armies, now prisoners to the 
Confederate rebel forces, is such that* it be- 
comes our duty, and the duty of every com- 
missioned ofH<'er, to make known the facts In 
the case to the Government of the United 
States, and to use every honorable effort to , 
secure a general exchange of prisoners, 
thereby relieving thousands of our comrades 
from the horroi- now surrounding them. 

For some time past there has been a con- 
centration of prisoners from all parts of the 
raWl territory to the State of Georgia — the 
commissioned officers being confined at Ma- 
con, and the enlisted men at AndersonvUle. 
Recent movements of the Union armies un- 
der General Sherman have compelled the 
removal of prisoners to other points, and it 
is now understood that they will be removed 
to Savannah, Georgia, and Columbus and 
Charleston, South Carolina. But no change 
of this kind holds out any prospect of relief 
to OKir poor men. Indeed, as the localities 
selected are far more unhealthy, there must 
be an increase rather than a diminution of 
suffering. Colonel Hill, provost marshal gen- 
eral, Confederate States army, at Atlanta, 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



80 



stated to one of the undersigned that there 
were thirty-five thousand prisoners at Andcr- 
sonville, and by all accounts from the United 
States soldiers who have been confined there 
the number is not overstated by him. These 
thirty-five thousand are confined in a field of 
some thirty acres, enclosed by a board fence, 
heavily guarded. About one-third have va- 
rious kinds of indifferent shelter ; but up- 
wards of thirty thousand are wholly without 
shelter, or even shade of any kind, and are 
exposed to the storms and rains, which are 
of almost daily occurrence ; the cold dews 
of the night, and the more terrible eff"ects of 
the sun striking with almost tropical fierce- 
ness upon their unprotected heads. This 
mass of men jostle and crowd each other up 
and down the limits of their enclosure, in 
storms or sun, and others lie down upon the 
pitiless earth at night with no other covering 
than the clothing upon their backs, few of 
them having even a blanket. 

Upon entering the prison every man is 
deliberately stripped of money and other 
property, and as no clothing or blankets are 
ever supplied to their prisoner's by the rebel 
authorities, the condition of the apparel of 
the soldiers, just from an active campaign, 
can be easily imagined. Thousands are 
without pants or coats, and hundreds without 
even a pair of drawers to cover their naked- 
ness. 

To these men, as indeed to all prisoners, 
there is issued three-quarters of a poun'l of 
bread or meal, and one eighth of a pound of 
meat per day. This is the entire ration, and 
upon it the prisoner must live or die. The 
meal is often unsirted and sour, and the meat 
8uch as in the North is consigned to the soap- 
maker. Such are tLe rations upon which 
Union soldiers are fed by the rebel authori- 
tios, and by which they are barely holding 
on to life. But to starvation, and exposure 
to sun and storm, add the sickness which 
prevails to a most alarming and terrible ex- 
tent. On an average, one hundred die 
daily. It is impossible that any Union sol- 
dier should know all the facts pertaining to 
this terrible mortality, a.s they are not parad- 
ed by the rebel authorities. Such statement 

as the following, made by , 

speaks eloquent testimony. Said he : " Of 
twelve of us who were captured, six died, 
four are in the hospital, and I never expect 
to see them again. There are but two of us 
left." In 1862, at Montgomery, Alabama, 
under far more favorable circumstances, the 

Erisoners being protected by sheds, from one 
undred and fifty to two hundred were sick 
from diarrhoea and chills, out of seven hun- 
dred. The same per centage would give 
seven thousand sick at Andersonville. It 
needs no comment, no elTorts at word paint- 



ing, to make such a picture stand out boldly 
in most horrible colors. 

Nor is this all. Among the ill-fated of the 
many who have suffered amputation in con- 
sequence of injuries received before capture, 
sent fi-ora rebel hospitals before their wounds 
were healed, there are eloquent witnesses of 
the barbarities of which they are victims. If 
to these f^icts is added this, that nothing more 
demoralizes soldiers and develops the evil 
passions of man than starvation, the terrible 
condition of Union prisoners at Anderson- 
ville can be readily imagined. They are 
fast losing hope, and becoming utterly reck- 
less of life. Numbers, crazed by their suffer- 
ings, wander about in a state of idiocy ; oth- 
ers deliberately cross the " dead line," and 
are remorselessly shot down. 

In behalf of these men we most earnestly 
appeal to the President of the United States. 
Few of them have been captured except in 
the front of battle, in the deadly encounter, 
and only when overpowered by numbers. 
They constitute as gallant a portion of our 
armies as carry our banners any where. If 
released, they would soon return to again do 
vigorous battle for our cause. We are told 
that the only obstacle in the way of ex- 
change is the status of enlisted negi'oes cap- 
tured from our armies, the United States 
claiming that the cartel covers all who serve 
under its flag, and the Confederate States 
refusmg to consider the colored soldiers," 
heretofore slaves, as prisoners of war. 

We beg leave to suggest some facts bear- 
ing upon the question of exchange, which 
we would urge upon this consideration. Is 
it not consistent with the national honor, 
without waiving the claim that the negro 
soldiers shall be treated as prisoners of war, 
to effect an exchange of the white soldiers ? 
The two classes are treated differently by 
the enemy. The whites are confined in 
such prisons as Libby and Andersonville, 
starved and treated with a barbarism un- 
known to civilized nations. The blacks, on 
the contrary, are seldom imprisoned. They 
are distributed among the citizens, or em- 
ployed on government works. Under these 
circumstances they receive enough to eat, 
and are worked no harder than they have 
been accustomed to be. They are neither 
starved or killed off by the pestilence in 
the dungeons of Richmond and Charleston. 
It is true they are again made slaves ; but 
their slavery is freedom and happiness com- 
pared with the cruel existence imposed upon 
our gallant men. They are not bereft of 
hope, as are the white soldiers, dying by 
piece-meal. Their chances of escape are 
tenfold gi-eater than those of the white sol- 
diers, and their condition, in all its lights, is 
toleral)le in comparison with that of the pris- 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



81 



oners of war now languishing in the dens 
and pens of Secession. 

While, therefore, believing the claims of 
our Government, in matters of exchange, to 
be just, we are profoundly impressed with 
the conviction that the circumstances of the 
two classes of soldiers are so widely differ- 
ent that the Government can honorably 
consent to an exchange, waiving for a time 
the established principle justly claimed to 
be applicable in the case. Let thirty-five 
thousand suffering, starving, and enlisted 
men aid this appeal. By prompt and de- 
(!ided action in their behalf, thirty-five thou- 
sand heroes will be made happy. For the 
eighteen hundred commissioned officers now 
prisoners we urge nothing. Although desir- 
ous of returning to our duty, we can bear 
imprisonment with more fortitude if the en- 
listed men, whose sufferings we know to be 
intolerable, were restored to liberty and life. 



Letter of Major-General Butler, United States 
Commissioner of Exchange., to Col. Ould, 
the Confederate Commissioner. 

Headquarters Department of 

Virginia and North Carolina, 
In the Field, August — , 1864. 

Hon. Robert Ould, 

«. Commissioner of Exchange. 

Sir: — Your note to Major Mulford, As- 
sistant Agent of Exchange, under date of 
10th August, has been referred to me. 

You therein state that Major Mulford has 
several times proposed " to exchange prison- 
ers respectively held by the two belligerents, 
officer for officer and man for man," and 
that " the offer has also been made by other 
officials having charge of matters connected 
with the exchange of prisoners," and that 
" this proposal has been heretofore declined 
by the Confederate authorities." That you 
now " consent to the above proposition, and 
agree to deliver to you (Major Mulford) the 
prisoners held in captivity by the Confeder- 
ate authorities, provided you agree to de- 
liver an equal number of officers and men. 
As equal numbers are delivered from time 
to time, they will be declared exchanged. 
This proposal is made with the understand- 
ing that the officers and men on both sides 
Avho have been longest in captivity will be 
first delivered, where it is practicable." 

From a slight ambiguity in your phraseol- 
ogy, but more, perhaps, from the antecedent 
action of your authorities, and because of 
your acceptance of it, I am in doubt whether 
you have stated the proposition with entire 
accuracy. 

It is true, a proposition was made both by 
Major Mulford and by myself, as Agent of 
third series, living age. vol. xxvii. 



Exchange, to exchange all prisoners of war 
taken by either belligerent party, man for 
man, officer for officer, of equal rank, or 
their equivalents. It was made by me as 
early as the first of the winter of 1863-64, 
and has not been accepted. In May last I 
forwarded to you a note, desiring to know 
whether the Confederate authorities intend- 
ed to treat colored soldiers of the United 
States army as prisoners of war. To that 
inquiry no answer has yet been made. To 
avoid all possible misapprehension or mistake 
hereafter as to your offer now, will you now 
say whether you mean by " prisoners held 
in captivity," colored men, duly enrolled, 
and mustered into the service of the United 
States, who have been captured by the Con- 
federate forces ; and if your authorities are 
willing to exchange all soldiers so mustered 
into the United States army, whether col- 
ored or otherwise, and the officers command- 
ing them, man for man, officer for officer ? 

At the interview which was held between 
yourself and the Agent of Exchange on the 
part of the United States, at Fortress Mon- 
roe, in March last, you will do me the favor 
to remember the principal discussion turned 
upon this very point ; you, on behalf of the 
Confederate Government, claiming the right 
to hold all negroes, who had heretofore been 
slaves, and not emancipated by their mas- 
ters, enrolled and mustered into the service 
of the United States, when captured by your 
forces, not as prisoners of war, but upon 
capture to be turned over to their supposed 
masters or claimants, whoever they might 
be, to be held by them as slaves. 

By the advertisements in your newspa- 
pers, calling upon masters to come forward 
and claim these men so captured, I suppose 
that your authorities still adhere to that 
claim — that is to say, that whenever a col- 
ored soldier of the United States is captured 
by you, upon whom any claim can be made 
by any person residing within the States 
now in insurrection, such soldier is not to be 
treated as a prisoner of war, but is to be 
turned over to his supposed owner or claim- 
ant, and put at such labor or service as that 
owner or claimant may choose, and the offi- 
cers in command of such soldiers, in the lan- 
guage of a supposed act of the Confederate 
States, are to be turned over to the Govern- 
ors of jStates, upon requisitions, for the pur- 
pose of being punished by the laws of such 
States, for acts done in war in the armies of 
the United States. 

You must be aware that there ie still 
a proclamation by Jefferson Davis, claim- 
ing to be Chief Executive of the Con- 
federate States, declaring in substance that 
all officers of colored troops mustered into 
the service of the United States were act 
1265. 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES 



82 



t» be treat.cd as prisoners of war, but 
were to be turned over for punishment 
to the Governors of States. 

I am recitinjij these public acts from 
memory, and will be pardoned for not giv- 
ing the exact words, although I believe I 
do not vary the substance and effect. 

These declarations on the part of those 
whom you represent yet remain unrepeal- 
ed, unannulled, unrevoked, and must, there- 
fore, be still supposed to be authoritative. 

By your acceptance of our proposition, 
is the Government of the United States 
to understand that these several claims, 
enactments, and proclaimed declarations are 
to be given up, set aside, revoked, and held 
for nought by the Confederate authorities, 
and that you are ready and willing to ex- 
change man for man those colored soldiers 
of the United States, duly mustered and 
enrolled as such, wlio have heretofore been 
claimed as slaves by the Confederate States, 
as well as by white soldiers ? 

If this be so, and you are so willing to 
exchange these colored men claimed as 
slaves, and you will so officially inform the 
Government of the United States, then, 
as I am instructed, a principal difficulty 
in effecting exchanges will be removed. 

As I informed you personally, in my 
judgment, it is neither consistent with the 

Eolicy, dignity, or honor of the United 
tates, upon any consideration, to allow 
those who, by our laws solemnly enacted, 
are made soldiers of the Union, and who 
have been duly enlisted, enrolled and mus- 
tered as such soldiers, who have borne 
arms in behalf of this country, and who 
have been captured while fighting in vin- 
dication of the rights of that country, not 
to be treated as prisoners of war, and re- 
main unexchanged, and in the service of 
those who claim them as masters ; and I 
cannot believe that the Government of the 
United States will ever be found to con- 
sent to so gross a wrong. 

Pardon me if I misunderstood you in 
supposing that your acceptance of our prop- 
osition does not in good faith mean to in- 
clude all the soldiers of the Union, and that 
you still intend, if your acceptance is agreed 
to, to hold the colored soldiers of the Union 
unexchanged, and at labor or service, be- 
cause I am informed that very lately, al- 
most contemporaneously with this offer on 
your part to exchange prisoners, and which 
seems to include all prisoners of war, the 
Confederate authorities have made a dec- 
laration that the negroes heretofore held 
to service by owners in the States of Del- 
aware, Maryland, and Missouri are to be 
treated as prisoners of war, when captured 
In arras in the service of the United States. 



Such declaration that a part of the col- 
ored soldiers of the United States were 
to be prisoners of war, would seem most 
strongly to_ imply that others were not to 
be so treated, or in other words, that tho 
colored men from the insurrectionary States 
are to be held to labor and returned to 
their masters, if captured by the Confed- 
erate forces while duly enrolled and mus- 
tered into, and actually in the armies of 
the United States. 

In the view which the Government of 
the United States takes of the claim made 
by you to the persons and services of 
these negroes, it is not to be supported 
upon any principle of national and rrnnlci- 
pal law. 

Looking upon these men only as property 
upon your theory of property In them, we 
do not see how this claim can be made, cer- 
tainly not how it can be yielded. It is be- 
lieved to be a well-settled rule of public in- 
ternational law, and a custom and part of 
the laws of war, that the capture of mova- 
ble property vests the title to that property 
In the captor, and therefore where one bel- 
ligerent gets Into full possession property 
belonging to the subjects or citizens of the 
other belligerent, the owner of that property 
is at once divested of his title, which rests 
in the belligerent Government capturing 
and holding 'such possession. Upon this 
rule of international law all civilized na- 
tions have acted, and by it both belligerents 
have dealt with all property, save slaves, 
taken from each other during the present 
war. 

If the Confederate forces capture a num- 
ber of horses from the United States, the 
animals are claimed to be, and, as we under- 
stand it, become the property of the Con- 
federate authorities. 

If the United States capture any mova- 
ble property In the rebellion, by our regula- 
tions and laws, in conformity with interna- 
tional law, and the laws of war, such prop- 
erty is turned over to our Government as its 
property. Therefore, if we obtain posses- 
sion of that species of property known to 
the laws of the insurrectionary States as 
slaves, why thould there be any doubt that 
that property, like any other, vests in the 
United States? 

If the property in the slave does so vest^ 
then the "jus di-<pnnendi" the right of dis- 
posing of that property, vests in the United 
States. 

Now, the United States have disposed of 
the property which they have acquired by 
capture in slaves taken by them, by giving 
that right of property to the man himself, 
to the slave, i. e. by emancipating him and 
declaring him free forever, so that if wo 



TO PRISONERS OF WAR. 



have not mistakcii the principles of inter- 
national law and the laws of war, we have 
no slaves in the armies of the United States. 
All are free men, being made so in such 
manner as we have chosen to dispose of our 
property in them which we acquired by cap- 
ture. 

Slaves being captured by us, and the 
right of property in them thereby vested in 
us, that right of property has been disposed 
of by us by manumitting them, as has always 
been the aL-kuowledged right of the owner 
to do to his slave. The manner in which 
we dispose of our property while it is in our 
possession certainly cannot be questioned by 
you. 

Nor is the case altered if the property is 
not actually captured in battle, but comes 
either voluntarily or involuntarily from the 
belligerent owner into the possession of the 
other belligerent. 

I take it no one would doubt the right 
of the United States to a drove of Confed- 
erate mules, or a herd of Confederate 
cattle, which should wander or rush across 
the Confederate lines into the lines of the 
United States army. So it seems to me, 
treating the negro as property merely, if 
that piece of property passes the Confeder- 
ate lines, and comes into the lines of the 
United States, that property is as much lost 
to its owner in the Confederate States as 
would be the mule or ox, the property of the 
resident of the Confederate States, which 
should fall into our hands. 

If, therefore, the privilege of international 
law and the laws of war used in this discus- 
sion are correctly stated, then it would seem 
that the deduction logically flows therefrom, 
in natural sequence, tbat the Confederate 
States can have no claim upon the negro 
soldiei-s captured by them from the armies 
of the United States, because of the former 
ownership of them by their citizens or sub- 
jects, and only claim such as result, under 
the laws of war, from their captor merely. 

Do the Confederate authorities claim the 
right to reduce to a state of slavery free 
men, prisoners of war captured by them ? 
This claim our fathers fought against under 
Bainbridge and Decatur, when set up by 
the Barbary Powers on the northern shore 
of Africa, about the year 1800, and in 1864 
their children will hardly yield it upon their 
own soil. 

This point I will not pursue further, be- 
cause I understand you to repudiate the idea 
that you will reduce free men to slaves be- 
cause of capture in war, and that you base 
the claim of the Confederate authorities to 
re-enslave our negro soldiers, when captured 
by you, upon the "/ws post lim'ini" or that 
principle of the law of nations which inhab- 



83 



ilitates the former owner with his property 
taken by an enemy, when such property ia 
recovered by the forces of his own country. 

Or in other words, you claim tliat, by the 
laws of nations and of war, when property of 
the subjects of one belligerent power, cap- 
tured by the forces of the other belligerent, 
is recaptured by the armies of the former 
owner, then such property is to be restored 
to its prior possessor, as if it had never been 
captured, and therefore, under this principle, 
your authorities propose to restore to their 
masters the slaves which heretofore belonged 
to them which you may capture from us. 

But this post liminary right under which 
you claim to act, as understood and defined 
by all writers on national law, is applicable 
simply to immovable property, and that, too, 
only after complete resubjugation of that 
portion of the country in which the property 
is situated, upon which this right fastens 
itself. By the laws and customs of war, this 
right has never been applied to movable 
property. 

True it is, I believe, that the Romans at- 
tempted to apply it to the case of slaves, but 
for two thousand years no other nation has 
attempted to set up this right as ground for 
treating slaves differently from other prop- 
erty. 

But the Rojpans even refused to re-enslave 
men captured from opposing belligerents in 
a civil war, such as ours unhappily is. 

Consistently then with any principle of the 
law of nations, treating slaves as property 
merely, it would seem to bo impossible for the 
Government of the United States to permit 
the negroes in their ranks to be re-enslaved 
when captured, or treated otherwise than as 
prisoners of war. 

I have forborne, sir, in this discussion, to 
argue the question upon any other or differ- 
ent ground of right than those adopted by 
your authorities in claiming the negro as 
property, because I understand that your 
fabric of opposition to the Government of the 
United States has the right of property in 
man as its corner-stone. Of course it would 
not be profitable in settling a question of ex- 
change of prisoners of war to attempt to argue 
the question of abandonment of the very cor- 
ner-stone of their attempted political edifice. 
Therefore I have admitted all the considera- 
tions which should apply to the negro soldier 
as a man, and dealt with liim upon the Con- 
federate theory of property only. 

I unite with you most cordially, sir, in de- 
siring a speedy settlement of all these que^ 
tions, in view of the great suffering endured 
by our prisoners in the hands of your author- 
ities, of v/hich you so feelingly speak. Let 
me ask, in view of that suffering, why you 
have delayed eight months to answer a prop- 



CRUELTIES OF REBEL AUTHORITIES. 



84 

osition which by now accepting you admit to 
bo right, just, and humane, ^allowing that 
sufFering to continue so long ? One cannot 
help thinking, even at the risk of being 
deemed uncharitable, that the benevolent 
sympathies of the Confederate authorities 
have been lately stirred by the depleted con- 
dition of their armies, and a desire to get into i uc.-^ro. 1 assure vni. n-,,,,.1, oc„ e .y 
the field, to affect the present campaign, the No^h ar'e "Ti^JT^f W pro7ertf Z 

^t\tZ7kf'"f^ '• '""^'i P'""f '^ ^^f ?y ^'^'^^"^ ^«"ld have no difficultvTn • eidb" 

the Umted States m exchange for the half- up any piece of property the3^\ave iuex" 

starved, s.ck, emaciated, and unserviceable change for one of thdr brothers or son Ian 

soldier of the TInited SfatPs Tintv lnr.fr,, oi,;.\^ „.,:,i,:„_ -. . '"'-"cia ui &ons lan 



tured in fighting your battles, to be in ,;(in- 
tinement for months rather than release him 
by giving for him that which vou call a piece 
ot property, and which we are willino- to ac- 
cept as a man ? '^ 

You certainly appear to place less value 
upon your soldier than you do upon your 
nesro. I assure you, much as we of the 



soldier of the United States now languishiiig 
in your prisons. The events of this wai° 
if we did not know it before, have taught us 
that it is not the Northern portion of the 
American people alone who know how to 
drive sharp bargains. 

The wrongs, indignities, and privations 
suffered by our soldiers would move me to 
consent to anything to procure their ex- 
change, except to barter away the honor and 
faith of the Government of the United States, 
which has been so solemnly pledged to the 
colored soldiers in its ranks. 

Consistently with national faith and justice 
we cannot relinquish this position. With 
your authorities it is a question of property 
merely. It seems to address itself to you in 
this form. Will you suffer your soldier, cap- 



guishing in your prisons. Certainly there 
could be no doubt that they would do so 
were that piece of property less in value 
than five thousand dollars in Confederate 
money, which is believed to be the price of 
an able-bodied negro in the insurrectionary 
States. 

Trusting that I may.receive such a reply 
to the questions propounded in this note, as 
wil} tend to a speedy resumption of the ne- 
gotiations in a full exchange of all prisoners, 
and a delivery of them to their respective 
authorities, 
I have the honor to be, 
Very llespectfuliy, 

Your Obedient Servant, 

BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 
Major-General, and Commissioner of Exchange. 



ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS AGAINST THE REBELLION. 



85 



ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS AGAINST THE KEBELLION. 

There is an almost official confession of the "folly, wickedness, and madness" of the 
Rebellion, in a speech made by the so-called Vice-President, Alexander H. Stephens, in 
Georgia, in January, 18G1, before it broke out, and made to prevent it. The whole speech 
has been often printed since. We have room only for a part. 



" When we of the South demanded the 
slave-trade, or the importation of Africans 
for the cultivation of our lands, did they not 
jield the right for twenty years ? When we 
iisked a three-fifths representation in Con- 
gress for our slaves, was it not granted? 
When we asked and demanded the return 
of any fugitive from justice, or the recovery 
of those persons owing labor or allegiance, 
was it not incorpoi-afed in the Constitution, 
and again ratified and strengthened in the 
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 V 

''But do you reply, that in many instances 
they have violated "this compact, and have 
not been faithful to their engagements ? As 
individuals and local communities they may 
have done so, but not by the sanction of 
government ; for that has always been true 
to Southern interests. Again, gentlemen, 
look at another fact : When we have asked 
that more territory should be added, that we 
might spread the institution of Slavery, have 
they not yielded to our demands in giving us 
Louisana, Florida, and Texas, out of which 
four States have been carved, and ample ter- 
ritory for four more to be added in due time, 
if you, by this unwise and impolite act, do 
not destroy this hope, and perhaps by it lose 
all, and have your la»t slave wrenched from 
you by stern military rule, as South America 
and Mexico were ; or by the vindictive de- 
cree of a universal emancipation, which may 
reasonably be expected to follow ? 

" But, again, gentlemen, what have we_ to 
gain by this proposed change of our relation 
to the general government ? We have al- 
ways had the control of it, and can yet, if 
we remain in it, and are as united as we 
have been. We have had a majority of the 
Presidents chosen from the South,^ as well 
as the control and management of most of 
those chosen from the North. We have had 
sixty years of Southern Presidents to their 
twenty-four, thus controlling the Executive 
department. So of the judges of the Su- 
prt'me Court, we have had eighteen from 
the South, and but eleven from the North ; 
although nearly four-fifths of the judical 
business has arisen in the Free States, yet 
a majority of the Court has always been 



from the South. This we have required, 
so as to guard against any interpretation of 
the Constitution unfavorable to us. In like 
manner we have been equally watchful to 
guard our interests in the Legislative branch 
of government. In choosing the presiding 
Presidents (pro tern.) of the Senate, we have 
had twenty-four to their eleven. Speakers 
of the House, we have had twenty-three, 
and they twelve. While the majority of 
the Ptepresentatives, from their greater pop- 
ulation, have always been from the North, 
yet we have generally secured the Speak- 
er, because he, to a great extent, shapes 
and controls the legislation of the country. 
Nor have we had less control in every other 
department of the general government. At- 
torney-generals wehave had fourteen, while 
the North have had but five. Foreign min- 
isters we have had eighty-six, and they but 
fifty four. While three-fourths of the busi- 
ness which demands diplomatic agents 
abroad is clearly from the Free States, 
from their greater commercial interests, yet 
we have had the principal embassies, so as 
to secure the world markets for our cotton, 
tobacco, and sugar, on the best possible 
terms. We have had a vast majority of 
the higher offices of both army and navy, 
while a larger proportion of the soldiers and 
sailors were drawn from the North. Equal- 
ly so of clerks, auditors, and comptrollers 
filling the Executive depai'tment; the rec- 
ords show for the last fifty years, that of 
the three thousand thus employed, we have 
had more than two-thirds of the same, while 
we have but one-third of the white popula- 
tion of the Republic. 

" Again, look at another item, and one, be 
assured, in which we have a great and vital 
interest ; it is that of revenue, or means of 
supporting government. From official doc- 
uments, we learn that a fraction over three- 
fourths of the revenue collected for the 
support of government has uniformly been 
raised from "the North. 

" Leaving out of view, for the present, the 
countless millions of dollars you must ex- 
pend in a war with the North, with tens of 
thousands of yaur sons and brothers slain in 



86 



ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS AGAINST THE REBELLION. 



battle, and offered np as sacrifices upon the 
altar of your ambition, — and for what, we 
ask ajj;ain ? Is it for the overthrow of the 
American government, established by [our 
common ancestry, cen.^nted and built' up 
by their sweat and blood, and founded on 
the bi-oad principles of Rirjht, Justice, and 
Humanily? And, as such, I must declare 
here, as 1 have often done before, and which 
has been repeated by the greatest and wisest 
of statesmen and patriots in this and other 
lands, that it is the best and freest govern- 
ment, the most equal in its rights, the most just 
m its decisions, the most lenient in its meas- 



ures, and the most inspiring in its pnnciples 
to elevate the race of men, that the sun of 
heaven ever shone upon. 

" Now, for you to attempt to overthrow 
such a government as this, under which we 
have lived for more than three-quarters of a 
century — in which we have gained our 
wealth, our standing as a nation, our domes- 
tic safety while the elements of peril are 
around us, with peace and tranquillity ac- 
companied with unbounded prosperity and 
rights unassailed — is the height of madness, 
folly, and wickedness, to which I can neither 
lend my sanction nor my vote." 



Office of Littell's Living Age, Boston. 

Thank God that some, who have read that part of this report which was copied into tlie 
Living Age a fortnight ago, have submitted their minds to the accumulated proof of the 
horrible atrocity of the Rebellion, and the fiendish character of its leaders. It is to be 
hoped that this exposure, so able and so complete, made in such a calm, clear, and Chris- 
tian spirit, will induce many to lay aside their life-long prejudice against any " interfer- 
ence with Southern institutions," — a prejudice so rooted as to have lasted even after the 
sacred institution had openly made war against their country. 

Since the publication of the former part, a subscriber, remitting payment for another 
year, says, " I am sorry to see The Living Age hoist the Black Abolition Flag." Look 
again, dear sir, as the mist clears off; it is not black: it is " Red, White and Blue ;" " 'Tia 
the Star-spangled Banner," the National Flag upheld by the President, by Congress, and 
by the nation. 

The People of the United States, in the election which has just taken place, have mani- 
fested not only their fixed purpose to sustain the Government and nation which our fathers 
planted, with the blessing of God, but also to uphold the present administration in its 
slowly-matured determination to root out the cause which has placed them in peril. 

The manner in which the war has been carried on by the rebels has been worthy of 
the object for which it was begun ; and it is difficult to believe that any patriotic or humane 
man can hereafter be found acting with their Northern and European sympathizers. 

The prefixed photographs show some few proofs of the enormous wickedness which 
these Accessories ailer the fact have to sanction. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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